Central Line episode 83: Delirium Biomarkers

Tina McKay, PhD

Tina McKay, PhD, is an instructor of investigation at Massachusetts General Hospital in the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine and instructor in anesthesia at Harvard Medical School. Dr. McKay's current research is focused on understanding the mechanisms involved in postoperative delirium, a condition that commonly affects our older patient population.

Dr. McKay completed her PhD in Cell Biology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and postdoctoral training at Tufts University in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, followed by a Research Fellowship at the Schepens Eye Research Institute. She has published more than 30 peer-reviewed papers in the fields of cell and corneal biology studying cellular metabolism, cell-cell communication, and systemic biomarkers. Dr. McKay is a Co-PI on a prospective 95-patient observational study funded by the National Institutes of Health that explores the interplay between inflammation, metabolism, and mitochondrial function as features associated with the development of delirium. These studies are designed to determine if metabolic biomarkers may be prognostic for adverse clinical outcomes.

Zhongcong Xie, MD, PhD

Zhongcong Xie, MD, PhD, is the Henry Knowles Beecher Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard University and physician-anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is the director of basic science research and the director of the geriatric anesthesia research unit in the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Xie’s research works include investigating the neuropathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease, postoperative delirium and postoperative neurocognitive disorder, which consists of the entire spectrum of basic sciences, translational research, and clinical investigations at all levels.

Dr. Xie graduated from Xuzhou Medical University in China in 1985 and obtained his PhD in pharmacology in 1994 at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. He moved to Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts in 1994 as a post-doctoral research fellow in both clinical investigation and animal behavioral research. Dr. Xie returned to the clinical arena in 1997 as an anesthesiology resident in Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. After completing the anesthesia residency training, he decided to become a physician-scientist and continue his research in neuroscience in Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Adam Striker, MD, FASA

Adam Striker, MD, FASA, is currently Chair of the ASA Committee on Communications, and is the series editor for ASA’s Central Line podcast series. He is an Associate Professor and serves as staff anesthesiologist in the Division of Cardiac Anesthesia at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and in the Division of Pediatric Anesthesia at Kentucky Children’s Hospital as part of the Joint Congenital Heart Care Program. He received his undergraduate degree in engineering from Purdue University and his medical degree from Indiana University. He completed his pediatric anesthesiology fellowship at Northwestern University.