PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Insights from nearly 150 research projects were on proud display at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School in mid-November as part of the medical school’s 19th annual academic symposium. The school hosts the showcase each fall to highlight the vast array of student-led research conducted the previous summer.
Class of 2028 medical student Jason Albaum presented his study characterizing delirium and its severity across three clinical settings in Massachusetts, Florida and New York. Albaum said it can be difficult to measure delirium in people with cognitive impairments, and he found that the highest rates of delirium were in acute medical inpatient settings. Among patients who develop delirium, there is a high rate of pre-existing cognitive impairment, and he found that those with dementia tend to have more severe delirium.
Having volunteered in nursing homes since middle school, Albaum had a personal interest in his research topic.
“I’ve always enjoyed talking with older adults,” he said. “At nursing homes, you see people with different cognitive abilities, and one of the things that can be happening is delirium. It’s related to increased mortality and it’s costly — up to billions annually in our health care system — and it’s preventable in 30% to 40% of cases.”
Shuah Yu, a member of the M.D. Class of 2028 who earned a bachelor’s degree from Brown in 2024, presented her research on maternal depression and stress as predictors of child executive function in Ethiopia. She found that the stress and depression of the mother can have detrimental effects on the cognitive abilities of their children.
