John J. Pacella, M.D.
Dr. John Pacella is currently a Cardiology Clinical Investigator Fellow at the Cardiovascular Institute at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. In 1992, he received his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University and then went on to receive his M.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine. Over the years, Dr. Pacella has held several positions which include; having an Internal Medicine Residency in the Department of General Internal Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. He also was a Biomechanics Researcher for the Musculoskeletal Research center at the University of Pittsburgh, a Project Manger and Project Engineer at Allegheny General Hospital.

Dr. Pacella’s graduate research focused on: Designed and fabricated a biventricular assist device to perform automatic cardiac massage. He performed in vivo and in vitro testing on the device and analyzed the biomechanics and geometry of systolic myocardial deformation. His undergraduate research focused on:

  • Controls Engineering: Utilized control theory in programming to design an environmentally sensitive robotic hand.

  • Biomechanics: Tested the mechanical fatigue properties of cardiac valve prostheses with a pulse duplicator.

  • Robotics: Designed the foot/ankle system for a bipedal robot. Provided controls to simulate human locomotion.

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CONTACT INFORMATION

Dr. John Pacella
Phone: 412-383-7123
Email: pacellajj@upmc.edu