Dr. de Velasco, Voluntary Associate Professor of Medicine, received his medical degree from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. After his medical internship at Jackson Memorial Hospital he joined the Indian Division of the Public Health Service where he served as a medical officer in the Zuni and Navajo reservations for two years. Returning to Miami, he completed his internal medicine residency and nephrology fellowship at the Jackson Memorial/Veterans Administrations programs with the University of Miami. He is board certified in internal medicine and nephrology.

In 2006 he was elected a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (ACP), the society of internists. The distinction recognizes achievements in internal medicine, the specialty of adult medical care. Dr. de Velasco was elected upon the recommendation of peers and the review of ACP's Credentials Subcommittee. The American College of Physicians is the second-largest physician group in the United States. Membership includes more that 119,000 internists, related subspecialties, and medical students. Internists are specialists in the prevention, detection, and treatment of illnesses in adults.

Dr. de Velasco practiced nephrology in the Miami area for about 30 years, serving on numerous medical staff committees in local hospitals. He is past president of the Florida Society of Nephrology and former Medical Director of Kendall Dialysis Center. He chairs the Baptist Health System Bioethics Committee and the Clinical Ethics Committee at Baptist Hospital of South Florida. He is a graduate student in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Miami. His main philosophical interests are in Pragmatism, the ethics of organ donation, and empathy as grounding medical ethics and morality.