Biography
E. Wesley Ely, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine
Pulmonary and Critical Care
Associate Director of Aging Research
VA GRECC
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, Tennessee
E. Wesley Ely, MD, MPH, is a Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine with subspecialty training in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and a particular passion for care of older critically ill patients. Dr. Ely is the Associate Director of Aging Research for the VA Tennessee Valley Geriatric Research and Education Clinical Center (GRECC). His research has focused on improving the care and outcomes of critically ill patients with sepsis and respiratory failure, with special emphasis on the problems facing older patients in the ICU (eg, weaning from mechanical ventilation, delirium and cognitive impairment in the ICU, neuropsychological deficits post ICU care, and quality of death in the ICU). He is currently the Director of the Vanderbilt Clinical Trials Coordinating Center for studies related to delirium and sedation. Among other studies, Dr. Ely is currently the principal investigator for a 5-year cohort investigation of cognitive impairment in ICU patients, with a focus on delirium and neuropsychological impairment ("ICU-accelerated dementia") in older survivors of the critical illness and the long-term effects of sedative and analgesia medications. This cohort study is sponsored jointly by the NIH and the VA. Dr. Ely has written or co-authored more than 200 articles, book chapters, and editorials.
