Dr. Eugene Wesley Ely is a distinguished physician and internationally recognized expert in critical care medicine with a focus on brain dysfunction in critically ill patients. He holds the prestigious Grant W. Liddle Professorship in Medicine and Critical Care at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and serves as the founder and co-director of the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship (CIBS) Center. Dr. Ely earned his BS in Biology Summa Cum Laude from Tulane University, followed by his MD and MPH degrees from Tulane School of Medicine, and completed his internal medicine residency and pulmonary/critical care fellowship at Wake Forest University. With extensive clinical experience as an intensivist, he has dedicated his career to improving outcomes for patients in intensive care settings, particularly focusing on the intersection of critical illness and neurological complications.
Dr. Ely's pioneering research has transformed understanding of ICU-acquired brain diseases, including delirium and the chronic cognitive impairment known as Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS). He developed the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU (CAM-ICU), a widely adopted clinical tool translated into more than 30 languages that has become the global standard for delirium assessment in intensive care units. His work has resulted in over 600 peer-reviewed publications that have significantly influenced clinical practice guidelines worldwide and reshaped approaches to patient care in critical care settings. Dr. Ely's research has demonstrated the profound impact of delirium on long-term cognitive outcomes and has established critical connections between acute brain dysfunction in the ICU and the development of dementia-like conditions following critical illness.
As a continuously federally funded investigator for more than 25 years through the National Institute on Aging and the Department of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Ely maintains a robust research program focused on innovative interventions to prevent and treat ICU-related brain dysfunction. He currently leads initiatives to establish a brain repository that will determine the specific neuropathological changes associated with post-critical illness cognitive impairment and is investigating safer sedation protocols to reduce delirium in intensive care units. During the pandemic, Dr. Ely and his team at the CIBS Center pivoted to address the neurological consequences of acute COVID-19 and Long COVID, developing new treatment approaches for these emerging conditions. Through his leadership, mentorship of numerous trainees, and commitment to translating research into clinical practice, Dr. Ely continues to shape the future of critical care medicine and improve outcomes for vulnerable patient populations worldwide.
