Paul Casella, MFA

 

Paul Casella
1620 Morningside Dr.
Iowa City, Iowa 52245
paul-casella@uiowa.edu

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EDUCATION
Master of Fine Arts in English and Writing, The University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Iowa City, Iowa, 1990

Artium Baccalaurei in English modified with Creative Writing and Film Studies cum laude, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1987

CURRENT POSITIONS & PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2014 Co-author and Lead Editor, Institutional Development Award—Clinical and Translational Research (IDeA-CTR) application from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Coordinated the work of authors and editors to develop and refine the 110-page narrative. Developed various templates, tables, and figures. Responsible for final draft. The IDeA-CTR was awarded July 2016.

2009– Adjunct Assistant Professor, Division of General Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa. I facilitate the professional development of principal investigators and physicians, especially their professional writing and presenting skills.

2008–10 Adjunct Instructor of Global Health, Department of Global Health, Des Moines University, Des Moines, Iowa. I help design projects and help students record and make meaning of their global health experiences.

2006–07 Lead Writer, Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) application from the University of Iowa. Coordinated the work of authors and editors to develop and refine the 300-page narrative. Developed various templates and tables. The CTSA was awarded October 2007.

2003– Consultant, Parenteral Drug Association (PDA), Bethesda, Maryland. Provide technical reviewing and copyediting services for technical reports and articles in the PDA Journal of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology.

2000– Academic/Scientific Editor/Manager, Office of Faculty Affairs and Development, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa. I lead advanced writing and speaking skills seminars, edit manuscripts and grant applications, and work as a presentation skills coach for the 1000+ faculty of the medical school.

1995– Professional Speaker. I have led over 3,000 presentations and seminar for physicians, researchers, and other health care professionals at meetings and institutions across North America and Europe. Currently I lead about 40 seminars a year. Recent clients (since 2010) include Albert Einstein College of Medicine, European Association of Urology, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Montefiore Hospital, National Institutes of Health, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas University School of Medicine, and the Young Urologists Association of Russia.

1995– Freelance Writer and Editor. Clients include individuals and groups from North America and Europe in academia, industry, educational testing, and finance.

1993–95 Medical Writer, Editorial Services, Bayer Corporation—Pharmaceutical Division, West Haven, Connecticut. Designed and lead a variety of writing and speaking seminars for health care professionals; taught written and spoken communication classes to company medical, management, and sales professionals; edited and wrote a journal dedicated to issues in medical speaking and writing; edited for publication physician abstracts and journal articles.

1990–93 Adjunct Faculty, Kirkwood Community College, Iowa City, Iowa. Taught Composition I, Introduction to Poetry, and Creative Writing at the Iowa City campus and over a two-way interactive television system; organized and lead student forums.

1989–92 Producer and Director, PTV: Poetry Television, Iowa City, Iowa. Founded and promoted PTV, a video magazine of poetry distributed to 15 educational centers in the US. The programs featured over 300 poets, fiction writers, musicians and artists.

1988–91 Producer and Videographer, Media Services, Division of Developmental Disabilities, Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa. Responsibilities included videotaping patients for their clinical records; producing and directing videotapes, audiotapes, and slide presentations for doctors and administrators.

 

GRANTS, HONORS, AND AWARDS
2015 Honorary Faculty Member Certificate, Kansas University Medical Center

2013  Member, Board of Directors, Empower Tanzania (www.empowertz.org)

2005 Certificate of Recognition, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Iowa

2004 Joel A. DeLiza, MD, MS Lectureship, Association of American Physiatrists, February 26

2002 Reader, Yale University Press
Solimene Award for Distinction in Medical Communication, American Medical Writers Association, for Writing, Speaking and Communication Skills for Health Professionals (Yale University Press, 2001)

2001 Certificate of Recognition, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, Rio Piedras, PR

1990 University Hospital School In-House Production Grant, to fund Traumatic Brain Injury: The Return to School, Iowa City, Iowa
Film in the Cities Regional Film/Video Production Grant, to Fund PTV: Poetry Television, St. Paul, Minnesota

1987 Third Prize, Poetry on Film Festival, San Francisco, California
The Peter D. Smith Student Initiative Award
The Alexander Lainge Memorial Writing Award
A Richter Grant

1986 Academy of American Poets Prize
Dartmouth Film Society Grant

 

PUBLICATIONS
2012 Casella P. Review of Publish and Flourish: A Practical Guide for Effective Scientific Writing. Doody’s Review Service (on-line). Available: at http://www.doody.com.
Casella P. Review of English and Reflective Writing Skills in Medicine: A Guide for Medical Students and Doctors. Doody’s Review Service (on-line). Available: at http://www.doody.com.

2011 Casella P. Review of Presenting at Medical Meetings. Doody’s Review Service (on-line). Available: at http://www.doody.com.

2010 Casella P. Review of Communicating Science: Professional, Popular, Literary.Doody’s Review Service (on-line). Available: at http://www.doody.com.

2009 Casella P. Review of Winning the Publications Game: How to Write a Scientific Paper without Neglecting Your Patients, 3rd ed. Doody’s Review Service (on-line). Available at http://www.doody.com.
Casella P. Review of How to Write a Paper, 4th ed. Doody’s Review Service (on-line). Available at http://www.doody.com.

2008 Casella P. Review of How to Publish in Biomedicine: 500 Tips for Success, 2nd ed. Doody’s Review Service (on-line). Available at http://www.doody.com.

2001 Casella P. Chapter 3, “The Creative Process” and Chapter 8, “Speaking for Success” in The Health Care Communication Group, Writing, Speaking, and Communication Skills for Health Professionals. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.

2001 Casella PJ. Writing for publication: Strategies to make you a more efficient and effective author. Carle Select Papers 2001;44(2):113-116.

1983– Poems, essays, and fiction published in The Seattle Review, Mudfish, Fine Madness, Puerto del Sol, Cutbank, Plainsongs, The Hawai'i Review, Pudding, Embers, Poetry Motel, The Boundaries of Twilight: Czecho-Slovak Writing from the New World, The Cedar Valley Divide, Writing Center Update, Bovine Interventions, The Oklawaha Review, and The New Press.

 

COMMUNITY SERVICE
2017 Served as an artist helper, artist assistant, and beer tent exit sentry, Iowa Arts Festival, Iowa City, IA

2012 Spent 5 days videotaping local educators and volunteers in 7 rural villages in Northeastern Tanzania as part of my global outreach work for Empower Tanzania. Edited and posted two videos on the Internet to promote awareness of the work Empower Tanzania coordinates: My Name Is EMPOWER TANZANIA (4 min, 16 sec), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChSMXwJv8CA; and Collecting Amaranth Seeds (2 min, 38 sec), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztakjq4wz30.

2011 Led 2-day Board of Directors retreat for Empower Tanzania, a non-governmental organization devoted to empowering the people of rural Tanzania in the areas of agriculture, education, health care.

2010 Spent 10 days videotaping local educators and volunteers in 10 rural villages as part of my work for Empower Tanzania (http://www.empowertz.org). Edited and posted videos on the Internet to promote dissemination of our efforts, for example, Thank You Song—Palliative Care Volunteers, Mbaga, Tanzania, 2010 (1 min 40 sec), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ztBXuoIDmc. Visited, presented to, and met with the elders in the Massai community in Ndururu, Tanzania, to begin work on a maternal/child mortality prevention project; see Ndaruru, Tanzania, Feb 28, 2010 (9 min, 38 sec), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUPN8NyHBUQ.

2008 Developed curriculum and taught communication skills and palliative care concepts in a week-long seminar to 96 care providers including clinical officers (physician assistants), pastors, nurses, nurse assistants, community workers (social workers), and teachers—in Same, Tanzania, through Iowa Sister States, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Southeastern Iowa Synod and South Pare (Tanzania) Diocese, and a PEPFAR grant (The United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief). Shot and produced a video of the experience, Introduction to Palliative Care, Same, Tanzania, March 2008 (14 min, 2 sec), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoVperr2xk0.

2006, 08, 10 Led poetry classes for Kindergarten, 2nd grade, and 4th grade students at Longfellow Elementary School, Iowa City, IA, focusing on haiku, e.e. cummings, and William Carlos Williams, respectively. Included reading, writing, and presenting exercises.