Dr. Vella is an Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of Acute Care Surgery and Trauma at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York, where he serves as Trauma Medical Director of the Kessler Level I Trauma Center and Associate Medical Director for Mercy Flight Central. He currently serves as Chair of the New York State Committee on Trauma, a Governor of the American College of Surgeons, and Treasurer of the New York State Chapter of the American College of Surgeons.

In addition to a busy clinical practice in trauma, emergency general surgery, and surgical critical care, Dr. Vella's clinical and academic interests focus on the initial resuscitation of injured patients, prehospital blood transfusion, and trauma systems. He has been a leader in advancing prehospital blood programs throughout New York State and led the development of the University of Rochester's whole blood program. He also has a particular interest in trauma video review, especially as it relates to performance improvement, trauma team dynamics, and optimizing the initial resuscitation of critically injured patients.