Critical Illness Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship (CIBS) Center

Jimmy Roberts, left, suffered a traumatic brain injury that dramatically altered his life. Now, his wife Amy Roberts, standing beside him, is serving on a new advisory group to help guide scientific investigations — the LIved experience advisory board for Brain injury ReseArch or LIBRA.
April 1, 2025

Advisory board formed to guide research, care for individuals with brain dysfunction

The board is a partnership between the Brain Injury Association of Tennessee and VUMC’s Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship Center.

By Jill Clendening
E. Wesley Ely, MD, MPH
March 28, 2025

VUMC’s Wesley Ely recognized by the American Thoracic Society

An internist, pulmonologist and critical care physician, Ely has focused on critically ill patients who suffer from delirium and who are at risk for long-term cognitive, functional and neuropsychological impairments.

By Bill Snyder
August 22, 2024

Yelena Bodien joins VUMC to advance efforts in research, treatment of brain disorders

Bodien, who will co-direct the Neuroimaging Core of the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship Center, has applied behavioral measures and advanced neuroimaging to improve the diagnosis and prognosis of severe brain injury.

By Jill Clendening
E. Wesley Ely, MD, MPH
May 15, 2024

Ely’s rehabilitation research honored by the US Department of Veterans Affairs

E. Wesley Ely, MD, MPH, has received the Paul B. Magnuson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Rehabilitation Research and Development from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

By Nancy Humphrey
February 22, 2024

NIH-funded trial to determine if immunomodulation can improve brain and cardiovascular dysfunction in Long COVID

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is working with scientists around the U.S. to launch the first Phase III, multicenter, placebo-controlled trial to determine the effect of immunomodulation on Long COVID.

By Nancy Humphrey
December 14, 2023

Healing over the holidays: A nurse’s guide to spending the holidays at the hospital

There’s no place like the hospital for the holidays. And we don’t mean that in a good way. But here are some ways to make it better.

By Courtney Graetzer, RN
May 24, 2023

American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) recognizes Ely and Pun research team

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) is presenting the research team of Brenda Pun, DNP, RN, FCCM and E. Wesley Ely, MD, MPH, with its AACN Pioneering Spirit Award.
By Matt Batcheldor
February 23, 2023

Review explores ICU-related cognitive impact scores

A recent systematic review by Vanderbilt researchers has taken a close look at the cognitive instruments used in long-term outcome studies of survivors of adult critical illness and how those test scores are interpreted.
By Nancy Humphrey
September 22, 2022

Reduced exercise capacity in ICU survivors

ICU survivors who have impaired exercise capacity months after discharge may have damaged muscle mitochondria — the energy powerhouses of the cell, Vanderbilt researchers propose.
By Kelsey Pinckard
March 30, 2022

Team helps patients battle post-COVID cognitive issues

Jane Stories is one of many COVID-19 patients still plagued by debilitating symptoms that include achy muscles, anxiety, depression, panic attacks and cognitive impairment.
By Bill Snyder and Nancy Humphrey
February 11, 2021

Vanderbilt, Zambia researchers find delirium in hospitalized patients linked to mortality, disability in Sub-Saharan Africa

Delirium, a form of acute brain dysfunction, is widespread in critically ill patients in lower resourced hospitals, and the duration of delirium predicted both mortality and disability at six months after discharge, according to a study published in PLOS ONE.
By Holly Fletcher
February 2, 2021

Study finds recommended ICU sedatives equally safe, effective

Sedative medications used in intensive care are associated with increased delirium, which is in turn connected with higher medical costs and greater risk of death and ICU-related dementia.
By Paul Govern
January 8, 2021

Large study finds higher burden of acute brain dysfunction for COVID-19 ICU patients

COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care in the early months of the pandemic were subject to a significantly higher burden of delirium and coma than is typically found in patients with acute respiratory failure. Choice of sedative medications and curbs on family visitation played a role in increasing acute brain dysfunction for these patients.
By Paul Govern
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