2005 Hall of Fame Inductee, Nicholas L. DePace

Nicholas L. DePace, Ph.D.
Physician and Author

Nicholas L. DePace was born on October 18, 1953 to Nicholas F. DePace and the former Rose Ann Piro. He attended Washington Elementary School where his sixth grade teacher, John Walker, introduced him to medicine and encouraged him to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor.

Dr. DePace graduated from Nutley High School in 1971. Three years later, he received a bachelor’s degree at Seton Hall University in South Orange where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. He received his medical degree in 1978 from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

He completed his internal medicine residency at Hahnemann University Hospital in 1981 and his cardiology fellowship at the Likoff Cardiovascular Institute in 1983. During his medical training, Dr. DePace excelled in research, resulting in the publication of over 100 peer reviewed medical and cardiological works, which include articles, abstracts and textbook chapters.

Dr. DePace was especially concerned with the regression of heart disease. Continuing his studies, he achieved full fellowship status at the American College of Cardiology in 1985. Ten years later, in 1993, he summarized much of his work in a book written especially to be easily understood by his patients. Published by W.W. Norton, The Heart Repair Manual details a nine-month formula for the prevention and reversal of heart disease.

In the 1990’s, he ran the DePace Medical Center and was a professor of clinical medicine at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, while simultaneously hosting a weekly radio call-in program on WPEN in Philadelphia. He has served on the editorial board of the prestigious “American Journal of Cardiology” since 1997.

Today, Dr. DePace is clinical professor of medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia where he is now triple-board certified, having completed certification in echocardiography this past June.

Dr. DePace has been learning Italian over the past couple of years and holds a weekly class with friends to better communicate with his Italian-speaking patients in South Philadelphia as well as to obtain a better understanding of his Italian culture and heritage. Dr. DePace’s father and many relatives still call Nutley their home. Dr. DePace resides in Haddonfield, NJ, with his wife of 25 years, Marilyn, and their son, Nicholas Jr., a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania.