Biography
Dr. DellaVecchia came to PBA after working as a post-doctoral research fellow at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/National Institutes of Health (NIEHS/NIH) in Research Triangle Park, N.C. As part of a team of scientists at NIEHS, he studied nucleotide excision repair (NER), a mechanism by which various species, from bacteria to humans, scan and repair DNA damage. Prior to working at NIEHS, he completed his doctoral work at the University of Florida, College of Pharmacy in the Department of medicinal chemistry. While there, he utilized solid and solution phase peptide synthesis and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to study a unique amino acid known as hypusine.
At PBA, Dr. DellaVecchia teaches medicinal chemistry components of several team-taught pharmacotherapy courses in the Lloyd L Gregory School of Pharmacy’s Pharm.D. program, as well as an introductory medicinal chemistry course for undergraduates in the chemistry department of the School of Arts and Sciences. He is particularly enthusiastic about students’ mastery of medicinal chemistry in order to ensure the well-rounded and chemically informed practice of pharmacy. Dr. DellaVecchia also oversees a Sports Pharmacy Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) elective rotation which allows select pharmacy students to apply didactic knowledge of pharmaceutical sciences and clinical pharmacy practice to understand the usage (and potential abuse) of drugs and supplements by athletes (either for therapeutic means or for potential athletic performance enhancement). In the past, Dr. DellaVecchia coordinated a teaching assistant program whereby Pharm.D. candidates from the Gregory School of Pharmacy participated as teaching assistants for undergraduate science courses and laboratories. He has also served as a summer science camp instructor for PBA Science Days. He is a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). A list of Dr. DellaVecchia’s publications can be found on PubMed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=DellaVecchia+MJ
Degrees
PHD in Pharmaceutical Sciences – Medicinal Chemistry, University of Florida | BS in Chemistry, University of Florida