Dr. Casola was born in Italy and grew up in Montreal, Canada. She is fluent in Italian, French and English. She holds degrees from McGill University (DCS in Physiology) and University of Shebrooke (MD). She served her medical internship at Centre Hospitalier, Universitaire de Sherbrooke and her diagnostic residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Dr. Casola was also an Ultrasound, CT and Interventional Radiology Fellow at the University of California San Diego.
Dr. Casola’s faculty appointments have included assistant professor of radiology at McGill University (1983-1985) and assistant, associate and full professor of radiology at the University of California San Diego (1985-present). Dr. Casola was the program director for the radiology residency and fellowship training programs from 1993-2003 and has a special interest in education. She has mentored many residents and fellows who have become leaders in radiology throughout the world. Dr. Casola has a very active international visiting fellowship program in body imaging. Dr. Casola was the director of the division of Body Imaging at UCSD from 2001-2006 and the Vice-Chair of Education from 2000-2003. She is an active member of several radiological societies including the Association of Program Directors, the AUR, the RSNA, the ARRS, the AIUM, the SGR and the SUR.
Dr. Casola has published over 120 manuscripts and over 100 abstracts. She has given over 300 invited lectures and has been a visiting professor at several institutions. Her academic and research interests have focused on abdominal imaging and intervention with special emphasis on abscess drainage, blunt abdominal trauma, acute appendicitis, CT of renal stones and CT Urography, CT screening studies, and CT Colonography. She is the Principal Investigator for the National CT Colonography trial sponsored by the NCI and ACRIN.
Dr. Casola is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (FRCPC), the American College of Radiology (FACR), and an honorary member of the Society of Italian Radiology in Medicine (SIRM). She is an examiner for the Oral Exams of the American Board of Radiology.
Her interests outside medicine include cooking, reading, theater and dance.
