About Dr. DePalma

Michael J. DePalma, MD- Interventional Spine/Musculoskeletal, Integrative Cellular Medicine Specialist in Richmond, Virginia

Dr. DePalma is President and Medical Director of Virginia iSpine Physicians, where he practices Interventional Spine Care with a focus on precise diagnosis, evidence-based treatment, and whole-person care. In 2024, Dr. DePalma founded Connected Coherence MD (CCMD), an Integrative Cellular Medicine practice dedicated to addressing the root causes of chronic, nagging, and disruptive symptoms using elements of Integrative, Functional, Cellular, Regenerative, and Lifestyle medicine.

Dr. DePalma earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience, magna cum laude, along with a Certificate in Foundations of Medicine from the Honors College of the University of Pittsburgh in 1995. He received his medical degree cum laude from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1999 and completed his residency in the highly regarded Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at The Ohio State University Medical Center. During his senior year, he was appointed Academic Chief Resident and played a key role in recruiting internationally recognized spine experts as guest speakers.

Dr. DePalma completed his specialized fellowship training in Interventional Spine Care at the internationally renowned Penn Spine Center of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in 2004. That same year, he moved to Richmond, Virginia, to help develop the Sheltering Arms Spine Clinic and was subsequently appointed the Medical Director role at the VCU Spine Center in 2007. In 2011, Dr. DePalma established Virginia iSpine Physicians and the Virginia Spine Research Institute to optimally deliver Interventional Spine Care and pursue innovative spine research.

Dr. DePalma has authored or co-authored over 105 peer-reviewed articles and abstracts, contributed to 30 editorials, reviews, and textbook chapters, served as an investigator in 44 clinical trials, and authored or edited three testbooks, including a 49-chapter comprehensive text on Interventional Spine Care featuring contributions from international spine biomechanicsm diagnositc imaging, electrodiagnostic medicine, and diagnostic and therapeutic spinal procedures.

He has served on multiple professional committees for the North American Spine Society, International Spine Intervention Society, American Board of Interventional Spine Specialists, American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Physiatric Association of Spine, Sports, and Occupational Rehabilitation, and the American College of Sports Medicine, and previously serviced as a peer reviewer for six leading peer-reviewed journals within his specialty and spine section co-editor of Pain Medicine.

Dr. DePalma served as Director of the Virginia iSpine Physicians’ Interventional Spine Care Fellowship program for 15 years before retiring the program in October 2024. During that time, he trained and graduated 18 fellows who have gone on to contribute meaningfully to the field of Interventional Spine Care. He has been an invited lecturer to over 80 regional, national, and international presentations and has been featured in regional newspaper segments.

Dr. DePalma has been named by his peer physicians as a “Top Doc” in Richmond magazine in April 2008, 2011, and 20122, an honor placing him among the top 10% of recognized physicians in the region. He has also been nominated as a VA Top Doc from 2022 through 2025.

An active spine researcher and pioneer, Dr. DePalma has served as an investigator in clinical trials evaluating new agents designed to repair or restore painfully degenerated intervertebral discs in the low back. He was the lead investigator at VCU in the largest prospective study of an innovative non-surgical technique to stabilize painful pelvic fractures in osteoporotic patients. His research was recognized by the International Spine Intervention Society as the “Best Clinical Paper” at their 17th Annual Scientific Meeting in Toronto, Canada. He is also the Principal Investigator on a trial evaluating painful lumbar discs, as well as a separate study investigating medication injected into painfully arthritic joints of the spine to help reverse arthritic changes. These are just a few examples of how Dr. DePalma contributes to advances and innovation in diagnosing and treating painful spinal disorders.

Integrative Cellular Medicine & Connected Coherence MD (CCMD)

Through decades of caring for patients who contend with chronic, nagging, and disruptive symptoms, Dr. DePalma has continually expanded his understanding of the many factors that cause pain, illness, and reduced quality of life. Having graduated from the renowned Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine Integrative Medicine Fellowship in Tucson, Arizona, he gained advanced training in integrative, functional, and lifestyle medicine—learning how thoughts can influence gene expression, how individuals in the world’s “blue zones” live long and fulfilling lives, how diet can either encourage or detract from healthy outcomes, how sleep is one of our most powerful natural medicines, and how the modern world can promote imbalances within the nervous system disrupting homeostasis.

Most importantly, Dr. DePalma has learned how to restore health, wellness, vitality, and vigor in order to optimize a gratifying quality of life. He has personally experienced the positive impact of many Integrative, Cellular, Functional, Regenerative, and Lifestyle medicine therapies and is deeply grateful for the insight this training has provided. In 2024, he founded Connected Coherence MD to share these approaches with patients—guiding them toward improved health, resilience, and well-being, and helping them reconnect with what is meaningful in their lives. Through CCMD, Dr. DePalma partners with patients to implement integrative therapies alongside traditional medical treatments, with the goal of restoring balance, improving outcomes, and enhancing overall quality of life in ways that traditional medicine cannot. To find out more, go to www.connectedcoherencemd.com.

Read more about Dr. DePalma and his research background