Dr. Adela Casas-Melley attended graduate school at Emory University and earned a Master’s degree in Medical Science in 1987 before attending the Medical College of Georgia.  She received her medical degree with distinction in 1991 from the Medical College of Georgia, where she also completed her General Surgery Residency in 1997.  Dr. Casas-Melley received fellowship training in Pediatric Surgery at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.  Dr. Casas-Melley started her career at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children where she joined the transplant team.  In 2000, the program moved to AI DuPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware where she practiced until 2006.  She was Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Surgery at both MCP/Hahnemann University and Thomas Jefferson University and then promoted to Associate Professor.  In 2006, she moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota where she was recruited to start a pediatric surgery program.   During her tenure there, she was promoted to Professor of Pediatrics and Surgery at USD Sanford School of Medicine and Vice-chair of the department of surgery.  She is now the Chair of Surgery at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando, Florida as well as a Professor of Surgery and Pediatric Surgery at University of Central Florida College of Medicine.  She is board certified with the American Board of Surgery in General Surgery and Pediatric Surgery.  She has recently completed a master’s degree in Business Administration at Auburn University and has a passion for working with the social determinants of health. She was appointed as program director for the University of Central Florida/HCA Healthcare Osceola Regional general surgery residency in Orlando Florida.

Dr. Casas-Melley is happily married and has four children.  Three of the four are following in her footsteps with a career in the medical field.