About Us
Tiny Hearts Project and Mindful Sonography were founded in Austin, Texas in 2016 by Dr. Celeste Sheppard to address the urgent need to improve prenatal detection of congenital heart disease.
Our educational interventions are developed and presented by world-renowned ultrasound educators and hosted in partnership with a wide range of institutions, schools and sonography practices across the United States. To date, we’ve trained more than 1,000 clinicians how to scan the fetal heart with confidence.
Tiny Hearts Project Partners
Tiny Hearts Project is proud to partner with the following organizations to provide fetal heart screening training across the United States.
The Tiny Hearts Project Team
Celeste Sheppard, MD
Founder
Email: sheppard@tinyheartsproject.org
Dr. Celeste Sheppard founded Tiny Hearts Project in 2016 when her participation in local and national quality and safety initiatives sparked her interest in applying principles of quality and value to prenatal sonography. She is passionate about promoting and training clinicians in best-practice techniques of prenatal screening, and serves as the lead faculty for Tiny Hearts Project’s courses.
Dr. Sheppard is a board-certified maternal-fetal medicine specialist in both Women’s Health, a clinical partnership between Ascension Seton and UT Health Austin, and the Comprehensive Fetal Care Center, a clinical partnership between Dell Children’s Medical Center and UT Health Austin.
Prior to her roles at Dell Medical School, Dr. Sheppard worked at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, where she was an assistant professor. She received her medical degree from UT Southwestern and completed both her internship and residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Parkland Memorial Hospital. She then went on to complete a fellowship in maternal fetal medicine at the University of Texas-Houston Medical School and a second fellowship in perinatal research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Sheppard is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and a member of the Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine, the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, and the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Ann Starr, MAHS
Chief Operating Officer
Email: ann@tinyheartsproject.org
Ann Starr joined the Tiny Hearts Project Board of Directors in 2017 and began serving as Chief Operating Officer in 2022. In this role, she oversees daily operations and provides strategic direction for the organization’s growth and sustainability. She is deeply committed to advancing Tiny Hearts Project’s mission of improving prenatal care and saving lives through education and innovation.
In addition to her work with Tiny Hearts Project, Ann is the Principal of Starr Nonprofit Consulting, where she draws on more than three decades of experience in nonprofit leadership, fund development, and program management to support mission-driven organizations and events.
Ann holds a Master of Arts in Human Services from St. Edward’s University and a Bachelor of Education from Kent State University.
Tracy Anton, RDMS, RDCS, FAIUM
Faculty
Tracy Anton is an Ultrasound Practitioner and Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Reproductive Medicine, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center. She joined the Tiny Hearts Project faculty in 2024.
Tracy has spent the majority of her career in academic medicine, with a primary focus in maternal fetal medicine, fetal echocardiography, and pediatric echocardiography. She serves as faculty lecturer, hands-on instructor, and mentor to fellows, residents, and ultrasound students. Tracy is a dedicated, life-long learner and a passionate educator with a primary focus on improving detection of congenital heart disease.
Mishella Perez BS, RDMS, RDCS, FAIUM
Faculty
Mishella Perez joined the Tiny Hearts Project faculty in 2025. She is a Clinical Ultrasound Educator at Scripps Health Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine in San Diego, with over 20 years of experience specializing in high-risk obstetrics and fetal echocardiography. She has educated and mentored learners across multiple disciplines, including radiology, OB/GYN, and MFM.
Mishella actively contributes to national organizations, serving on the SMFM MFM Sonographer Certification Task Force, the AIUM Executive Committee, and as Chair of the AIUM Obstetrics Community of Practice. She also serves on the Conference and Sonographer Subcommittee for the Fetal Heart Society and is a member of ISUOG and SDMS. Her interests include fetal echocardiography, first-trimester imaging, and leveraging AI in obstetric imaging to improve patient care and prenatal screening.
Elena Sinkovskaya, MD, PhD
Faculty
Dr. Elena Sinkovskaya is a proud member of the Tiny Hearts Project faculty and a member of the Board of Directors. She brings a distinctive background in both pediatric cardiology and fetal echocardiography, combining deep clinical expertise with a passion for teaching.
Dr. Sinkovskaya is a Professor in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University. She earned her medical degree and PhD from Russian State Medical University and completed a residency in Cardiology and Cardiac Imaging at Bakulev’s Center for Cardiovascular Surgery in Moscow, Russia. She went on to complete a fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the Perinatal Center at the University of Bonn in Germany.
An internationally recognized expert in fetal echocardiography, Dr. Sinkovskaya has trained numerous physicians and sonographers and led multiple research initiatives focused on improving prenatal cardiac care.