David Cella

As Chair of an interdisciplinary Department of Medical Social Sciences, I play a leadership role in the development and orchestration of transdisciplinary scientific collaborations. Our department conducts basic and applied social science research to advance the understanding of the mechanisms and measurement of health and disease. I oversee all academic and research programs, financial operations, faculty affairs and program development of the department. In both my capacity as PI on multiple trans-NIH initiatives and as Chair, I play leadership roles in the development and orchestration of transdisciplinary scientific collaborations. As a measurement scientist with expertise in applied health status measurement, I have led the development of numerous item banks and instruments, intended for both normal and clinical populations including paper-and-pencil and computer administered instruments. I was the principal investigator of the trans-NIH NeuroQoL and the PROMIS Statistical Center. In the first cycle of PROMIS (2004-2009), I was PI of the Statistical Coordinating Center (SCC). Currently I am the PI of The National Person-Centered Assessment Resource (PCAR) grant and ECHO PRO CORE grant. A theme of my work has been ensuring that the voice of the patient is reflected in clinical care and clinical research, including areas of high-stakes decision-making such as regulatory review, payer negotiations, and individual clinical care. A major focus of many of these initiatives has been ensuring measurement sensitive to diverse populations including issues of health literacy and health disparities and developmentally-sensitive measurement across the lifespan.