David Cella, PhD, is an Expert in Quality of Life and Psychosocial Outcomes Research

David Cella is an expert in quality of life measurement, psychosocial outcomes research and the development of health status measurement tools. His publications include the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) Measurement System, PROMIS, Neuro-QoL and emotional health domain of NIH Toolbox.

He is the Ralph Seal Paffenbarger Professor and Chair of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, as well as an associate director in cancer prevention and control for the Lurie Cancer Center.

Early Life and Education

Psychologist David Cella has made groundbreaking advancements in our understanding of chronic disease patients’ needs and how they want their healthcare delivered. He was an innovator in developing patient-centered health status measures and has dedicated his career to aiding researchers and clinicians gain insight into how patients want their treatments delivered.

He is an internationally renowned expert on applied health status measurement, having developed the FACIT Measurement System, PROMIS, Neuro-QoL and emotional health domain of NIH Toolbox. Additionally, he was elected member of the National Academy of Medicine for his work which earned him numerous awards. Currently he’s engaged with NIOSH’s effort to replace disparate questionnaires with one common approach for assessing health outcomes.

Professional Career

David Cella is the Ralph Seal Paffenbarger Professor of Health Care Studies and Chair of the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. As an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, his research interests encompass health outcomes measurement/applications, clinical trials, comparative effectiveness research and learning health system implementation strategies.

He developed and is continually refining the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) Measurement System for outcome evaluation in patients with chronic medical conditions. Additionally, he led the development and validation of PROMIS, Neuro-QoL and emotional health domain of NIH Toolbox. The FACIT Group boasts world-class expertise in translation and linguistic validation, outcomes research design, database development, multicenter data collection/management psychometrics and statistics.

Achievements and Honors

David Cella is an esteemed scientist renowned for his groundbreaking contributions to the field of health sciences. His research seeks to uncover what matters most for patients living with chronic illnesses, so clinicians and researchers can provide them with optimal healthcare experiences.

He is the Ralph Seal Paffenbarger Professor of Health Care Studies at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and director of their Center for Patient-Centered Outcomes.

Cella’s work has contributed to the establishment of standardized measurement systems that assess how well health care improves quality of life across conditions. He is leading PROMIS, an NIH Common Fund Initiative designed to make these measurements widely accessible to patients, researchers and healthcare professionals.

Personal Life

David Cella is a veteran firefighter who has held various positions. Additionally, he holds certifications as an Emergency Medical Technician and Hazardous Materials Incident Commander.

As a result, he has amassed an impressive net worth. This wealth was generated through paid partnerships, advertisements, and brand endorsements.

As of 2022, his net worth is estimated to be $50 million. This figure includes all his property and assets.

David Cella was born into a business family; his parents divorced. He attended private school before enrolling at The Pennsylvania State University to further develop his career prospects.

Net Worth

David Cella, PhD is the Chair of the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Director of the Institute for Public Health and Medicine (IPHAM). Additionally, he holds a Ralph Seal Paffenbarger Professor title. An expert on patient-centered outcomes research, Dr. Cella has published hundreds of peer-reviewed papers in internal medicine, quality of life issues, physical therapy treatments for cancers and oncology topics.

As of 11 July 2016, David Cella has a net worth of $641 thousand dollars. His biggest investment was exercising 25,000 units of TiVo stock on December 18th 2015 for $177,500 – an excellent return on his initial investment that earned him considerable profit.