Christian Larsen

Honoring a lifetime of contributions to Emory, Grady, and radiology

On behalf of the entire School of Medicine, I would like to extend a warm tribute and my own personal thanks to Dr. William Casarella as he retires at the end of this month after a long and distinguished career.

Dr. Casarella made important contributions in two leadership roles here, first as chair of radiology and later as executive associate dean for clinical affairs at Grady Hospital.

William Casarella

When Dr. Casarella first joined Emory's medical faculty in 1981, he was only the second person in the Department of Radiology's history to serve as chair. During his 23-year tenure in that role, he recruited many outstanding scientists and clinicians, helped build one of the premier residency training programs in the country, established a highly advanced outpatient radiology clinic, and implemented a filmless radiology system.

When Dr. Casarella was named officially to be executive associate dean at Grady in 2000, he had already been on point to coordinate School of Medicine activities at the hospital since 1987. At Grady, he helped address faculty needs, structured clinical departments, analyzed finances, and oversaw the Emory Medical Care Foundation. His expertise and wise counsel were invaluable in recent negotiations to reach a new Affiliation and Services Agreement with Grady, which became effective June 1.

Dr. Casarella also contributed substantially to his field of expertise. In the early years of interventional radiology, for example, he helped develop applications and techniques for angioplasty and diagnostic angiography that are used routinely today in cardiology, vascular surgery, and neurosurgery. He contributed close to 150 publications to the medical literature and has served as president of four leading radiology societies.

Please join me in celebrating Dr. Casarella's long investment of his time and talent and the many fruits that have come of this effort.

Best regards,

Christian Larsen, MD, DPhil
Dean, Emory School of Medicine