It is with sadness that we share the news of the passing of William J. Casarella, MD. Dr. Casarella served as chair of the Department of Radiology from 1981 to 2004, and executive associate dean for clinical affairs at Grady Memorial Hospital from 1999 to 2013. During his long tenure at Emory, he also served as interim chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and as executive director for Continuing Medical Education in the School of Medicine.
We credit Dr. Casarella for much of the way the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences operates today. Dr. Casarella grew Emory’s Diagnostic Radiology Residency program into one of the premier radiology residency training programs in the country, while also creating a cutting-edge, advanced radiology clinic, and developing a modern, filmless imaging system. He expanded the department by recruiting top scientists and clinicians such as the late Andreas Gruentzig, MD, the first to develop balloon coronary angioplasty, to Emory, setting the stage for a standard of innovation and excellence that continues today.
A pioneer in interventional radiology, Dr. Casarella helped develop the life-saving angioplasty and diagnostic angiography techniques now used routinely in cardiology, vascular surgery, and neurosurgery. Before joining Emory Radiology, Dr. Casarella served as chief of the cardiovascular radiology section at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, where he also completed residency training. During this time, he pioneered the use of image-guided vascular techniques to diagnose and treat GI bleeding, portal hypertension and various malignant tumors, all before the advent of computed tomography.
A tireless advocate and leader, Dr. Casarella helped found the Society for Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology, which later became the Society for Interventional Radiology (SIR) and served as its president. He also served as the president of the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) and the American Board of Radiology (ABR). In the latter role, he was a driving force to establish sub-specialty certification for radiologists.
Among his many honors are four Gold Medals: from SIR in 2003, ARRS in 2005, the American College of Radiology in 2009, and the Radiological Society of North America in 2018.
Dr. Casarella received his bachelor's degree from Yale University and his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. Upon finishing a rotating internship at the University of Pennsylvania, he became a flight surgeon in the US Army and a Unit Commander in Korea. When he returned to the US, Dr. Casarella completed a year of residency in internal medicine at Boston City Hospital and radiology residency training at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.
We offer our deepest condolences to Dr. Casarella’s family, especially his wife, Kay Vydareny, MD, a radiology legend in her own right and emeritus faculty member of the department.
The family is planning a celebration of Dr. Casarella’s life and will share details when they are available. The family requests that those wishing to honor Dr. Casarella can make a gift in his memory to the Grady Health Foundation.