Alessia de Paola is an author and medical doctor who specializes in child psychiatry. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Her medical career has spanned thirty years on staff at UCLA Medical Center and New York Presbyterian Hospital, half of those years at The National Center for Child Traumatic Stress. She maintains a medical practice in New York and Los Angeles. 

Alessia de Paola entered the literary workforce while a pre-med student at Columbia University as a researcher for author, Jerzy Kosinski. This one-year tenure was followed by her work as a researcher, science writer, and field producer for PBS, based in New York's WNET and Boston's WGBH. Projects included The Brain Series, The Mind Series, and The AIDS Quarterly with Peter Jennings. Her work in the arts continued as a medical student at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, serving as the series science advisor for an eight-hour PBS series, Medicine at the Crossroads, in collaboration with the BBC in London. She has published in academic journals and has worked as a medical consultant on television shows and feature films. 

At her medical school graduation, Dr. Oliver Sacks presented Alessia de Paola with the Joseph Garrison Parker Award for her interest and activities in art, music, literature, and public interest. That solidified her commitment to writing fiction depicting children's resilience and what these young warriors can teach about courage.

Alessia de Paola’s upcoming novel is her first work of fiction.