Dr. Sharon K. Inouye, MD, MPH - Director, Aging Brain Center, HSL; Professor, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Sharon K. Inouye is the Director of the Aging Brain Center at the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife in Boston, Massachusetts ( https://www.marcusinstituteforaging.org/scientists/team-profiles-and-bios/sharon-k-inouye-md-mph ).

Dr. Inouye has an M.D., from University of California San Francisco and M.P.H. from Yale and currently holds the Milton and Shirley F. Levy Family Chair and is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center). Her research focuses on delirium and functional decline in hospitalized older patients, resulting in more than 300 peer-reviewed original articles to date.

Dr. Inouye is the principal investigator of the Successful Aging after Elective Surgery (SAGES) study, an $11 million Program Project on delirium funded by the National Institute on Aging whose purpose is to examine the interface of delirium and dementia, whether delirium alters the course of dementia, and whether delirium leads to longstanding cognitive impairment and pathologic changes in the brain.

Dr. Inouye developed and validated the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM), the most widely-used instrument for the identification of delirium. She conceptualized the multi-factorial model for delirium, which focuses on identification of predisposing and precipitating factors for delirium and her work involves translating theories of clinical investigation into practical applications that directly improve the quality of life for older adults.

Dr. Inouye has also developed the Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP), a multi-component intervention strategy designed to prevent delirium by targeting six delirium risk factors. HELP was successful in reducing delirium by 40 percent and was published in a landmark study in the New England Journal of Medicine. This study was the first to show that a substantial proportion of delirium is preventable. Additionally, HELP has been shown to reduce falls, functional decline, and hospital costs, and to improve patient, family, and nursing satisfaction. The HELP program has been adopted by hundreds of hospitals worldwide.

Dr. Inouye has been awarded many of the highest accolades in her field, including being elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

Important Links

Delirium Central—for more information about delirium for families, caregivers, and healthcare professionals - https://www.deliriumcentral.org/

HELP—the Hospital Elder Life Program - https://help.agscocare.org/

National Academy of Medicine report: Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity - https://nam.edu/initiatives/grand-challenge-healthy-longevity/global-roadmap-for-healthy-longevity/