Dr. Vella earned his medical degree from SUNY Downstate College of Medicine in Brooklyn, New York in 1997. He completed his residency training in Pediatrics at Columbia Presbyterian Babies and Children's Hospital in 2000 and in 2003 he completed a fellowship in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, in California.

Dr. Vella has practiced Pediatric Emergency for over 20 years. Prior to his arrival at NYP WCM in January of 2019 Dr. Vella served as the Director of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center. Prior to that, he was the Program Director of the Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship at Mount Sinai Medical Center. He has served on numerous hospital committees and received a variety of honors and awards for teaching and for patient experience-related achievements during his 16 years at Mount Sinai. He has been an active member of the American Academy of Pediatrics for more than 20 years and has held several leadership positions on regional and national AAP committees. Dr. Vella is a current member of the editorial board of the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Practice Journal and served as the Editor-in-Chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine Practice from 2012 to 2017.

In March of 2020 Dr. Vella was appointed as the Associate Chief Quality Officer at the NewYork-Presbyterian-Lower Manhattan Hospital. In this capacity he is responsible for leading the overall strategy, direction, and operational management of all areas associated with Quality, Safety, and Performance Improvement at NYP-LMH. He works collaboratively with the SVPs, VPs, Associate Chief Medical Officers and Directors at NYP in areas that include Accreditation and Regulatory, Infection Prevention and Control, Nursing, Operations, Legal, IT, and Patient Services.