Committees

The American Delirium Society is a member-run organization. It is not affiliated with any one University or institution. The achievements of the ADS are a result of the dedication and hard work of our members. Please help us advance the field of delirium by joining one of the committees.

If you are interested in joining a committee, please contact us at info@americandeliriumsociety.org (ADS Members Only)

Annual Conference Planning Committee

The Annual Conference Committee works with the Executive Board to plan, implement and evaluate the annual conference of the Society, and make recommendations to the Executive Board regarding all aspects of the Annual Conference.

Leanne Boehm, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC is an Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, with a research focus on eradicating delirium and enhancing ICU survivorship. Her work includes implementation of the ABCDEF bundle and peer support initiatives and development and delivery of ICU recovery clinics. An expert in implementation science, Dr. Boehm’s current projects involve telemedicine recovery services and digital tools for family involvement in ICU settings. She is an investigator at the Critical Illness, Brain dysfunction, and Survivorship Center. Dr. Boehm previously served as ADS Secretary and is currently a member of the ADS Board of Directors.

Stacey Williams, DNP, APRN, CPNP-AC is a nurse practitioner at Monroe Carell Jr Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit and the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. She received her BSN and MSN at the University of Alabama in Birmingham in Birmingham, AL, and her DNP at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. She has been a long-standing member of SCCM and ADS, where she has been involved in the ICU Liberation committee, author on the PANDEM guidelines, and is now a conference planning tri-chair for ADS. Stacey is a member of the pediatric delirium team with the CIBS center, a member of the validation team for the preschool CAM-ICU, and a co-investigator on the research grant for miniMENDs. Her research and quality improvement focuses on pediatric delirium, early mobility, and sedation.

Alexandria Barry, BSN, MBA, RN graduated from Lipscomb University in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Merchandising and Buying as well as a degree in Textiles and Apparel. She continued her education at Lipscomb and graduated in 2015 with a Master of Business Administration. In 2017, Alex completed an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Union University and began her nursing career at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. She joined the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship (CIBS) Center in 2020 and begin her career as a Pediatric Critical Care Research Nurse. Since joining CIBS, Alex has worked to continually educate on pediatric delirium by continually educating those at the bedside. She is passionate about ICU recovery and giving children the best possible chances at success after leaving the ICU.

Communications and Membership Committee

The Communications and Membership Committee is responsible for developing venues for ADS to get its messages out and get members involved! This committee ensures that timely and regular communications are maintained on the ADS website and through social media and develops informational materials to be used for information and marketing of the Society. This Committee has responsibility to devise, implement and evaluate a plan for recruitment and retention of members and oversees the Special Interest Groups.

Ben Kalivas, MD is an Associate Professor at the Medical University of South Carolina where he holds dual appointment in the departments of Medicine and Psychiatry. He attended medical school and combined Internal Medicine and Psychiatry Residency at MUSC. He practices as a hospitalist medicine physician and a brain stimulation psychiatrist. His academic and research interests lie in delirium, with an emphasis on screening for delirium in non-ICU patients. He helped lead the implementation of a health system wide non-ICU delirium screening protocol. He is an active member of the American Delirium Society and serves as co-chair of the Membership Committee. He is also passionate about the education and mentorship of medical students and residents and serves as Program Director for the MedPsych Residency Program.

Sapina Kirpalani, DNP is the Advanced Practice Clinical Program Leader for Inpatient Geriatric Palliative and Medicine Services at Mount Sinai Health System and an Adjunct Professor of Nursing at New York University. Her expertise lies in geriatrics, particularly in addressing delirium and dementia in acute care settings. As a dedicated educator, Dr. Kirpalani is committed to raising awareness and improving delirium care for hospitalized older adults. She pioneered an innovative delirium program that utilizes information technology in medical-surgical units and implemented a novel nurse-led approach for assessing and managing delirium in critical care. She co-chairs the ADS membership and social media communications committees.

Education Committee

The Education Committee is responsible for developing regular informational materials to be used for information and marketing of the Society, and reviews and edits all educational materials designed for professionals and consumers prior to the addition of the Society logo as endorsement.

Christine Waszynski, DNP, APRN, GNP-BC FAAN is formerly the coordinator of Inpatient Geriatric Services, Actions for Delirium Assessment, Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT), Age Friendly HealthSystems inpatient project, the Hartford HealthCare Systemwide Fall Prevention Committee, and Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) Programs at Hartford Hospital in Hartford Connecticut. She currently functions in the role of consultant. She is a recent past president of the ADS and retired member of the ADS Board of Directors. She remains active in several ADS committees including Education, Advisory and Conference Planning.

Anna Satake, PhD, MSN, RN, Geriatric CNS is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at University of California, Davis where she does research and works clinically in geriatrics and family caregiving. Dr. Satake has previously worked in multiple healthcare systems for 20 years where she has led programs and initiatives focused on improving care for older adults such as restraint reduction, falls prevention, and delirium management. She has been co-chair of the ADS Education Committee since 2022 and previously served as Tri-Chair for 2024 Conference Planning Committee.

Research Committee

The Research Committee makes recommendations to the leadership regarding the organization’s strategic research agenda. They also work closely with the Conference Planning Committee to enhance conference content and match junior faculty with more senior researchers for mentoring and guidance. Finally the research committee provides a venue for networking to assist in translating basic and implementation research related to delirium.

Benjamin Chapin, MD is a cognitive and behavioral neurologist currently serving as an Assistant Professor in the department of anesthesiology at the University of Florida as well as in the Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center at the Malcom Randall VA. Clinically, he manages older adults undergoing surgery to prevent and treat perioperative neurocognitive disorders. He is currently funded through the Alzheimer’s Association Clinician Scientist Fellowship to study how deficits in visuospatial attention may increase delirium risk in older adults undergoing surgery. His goal as a clinician-scientist is to improve our understanding of the nuanced relationship between neurodegeneration, cognitive decline, delirium, surgery, and anesthesia.

Shih-Yin Lin, MM, MPH, PhD is a Senior Research Scientist at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing Harford Institute for Geriatric Nursing. Dr. Lin received a PhD in Nursing Science and MPH in Health Services from the University of Washington, an MM in Music Therapy from Michigan State University, and a BFA from National Taiwan Normal University. While pursuing her doctorate, Lin received additional research training through a T32 Aging and Informatics training program and a TL1 Multidisciplinary Predoctoral Clinical Research Training Program. Dr. Lin received postdoctoral training at the University of Washington School of Medicine through a T15 Biomedical and Health Informatics Training Program. Dr. Lin has been a part of ADS Research Committee since 2020. Her research interests include dementia friendly communities, delirium superimposed on dementia, non-pharmacological interventions and technologies for older adults and their care partners.

Kelly Potter, PhD, RN, CNE is a nurse scientist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. In her early nursing career in the ICU, she often found herself asking: “What can I do to help these vulnerable patients thrive after surviving critical illness?” This real-world perspective shaped her career development, now focused on developing novel approaches to target the right patients to receive the right treatment at the right time. To that end, her growing research program is focused on using data-driven methods to understand how patient heterogeneity influences functional and neurocognitive recovery after critical illness. Long term, Dr. Potter’s goal is to build a low-burden infrastructure embedded in clinical informatics to treat patients with delirium, ultimately improving care delivery and patient outcomes.

Advisory Committee

A heterogeneous group of individuals with an interest in delirium care representing the health care, business and public sector. Members are asked to advise the ADS BOD on selected topics and to offer insight to the BOD on ways to engage with the public and health care professions surrounding delirium detection and care. Identifying Innovative ways to expand the ADS footprint and generate revenue are a focus of this committee.

Noll Campbell, PharmD, MS

Noll L. Campbell, PharmD, MS is an Associate Professor in the College of Pharmacy at Purdue University. Dr. Campbell received his PharmD degree from Butler University, completed a pharmacy practice residency at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, then a geriatric pharmacotherapy residency at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC. As an investigator with the Indiana University Center for Aging Research and the Regenstrief Institute, Inc., his research focuses on the effect of medications on the prevention and treatment of delirium and dementia. His research is funded by the NIH, AHRQ, and industry.

Social Media Task Force

Stimulate interest in ADS through a variety of social media platforms. Bring attention to new findings in evolving research and evidence based practice related to delirium. Promote discussion of topics related to delirium science and practice.