Dr. DellaCava received her undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University and her medical degree from Jefferson Medical College. She completed internship and residency at Montefiore Medical Center, where she served as Outpatient Chief in her final year, and completed an administrative fellowship as Senior Chief Resident. She subsequently completed a fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. DellaCava has pursued academic research to improve communication in medical students and to decrease loneliness in older adults. The interventions she has developed build skills derived from improvisational theater. She has implemented a program using these skills in a medical education setting, and she has completed a pilot project looking at the feasibility and acceptability of this intervention in older adults. She has presented at national conferences regarding these topics.

Dr. DellaCava's professional interests include medical student and resident education, geriatric psychiatry, loneliness and social isolation in adults, and psychotherapy.