Dr Miles Berger is an Associate Professor in the Duke Medical Center Anesthesiology Department, and associate biomarker core leader for the Duke/UNC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Dr Berger is a neuroanesthesiologist who cares for older adults undergoing brain and spine surgery. His laboratory focuses on the mechanisms of postoperative neurocognitive disorders such as delirium- the most common postoperative complication in older surgical patients. His team uses a variety of methods, ranging from molecular and cellular studies of pre and postoperative CSF samples, to functional MRI, EEG, cognitive testing and delirium screening to discover the mechanisms of postoperative neurocognitive disorders. His team also uses a life course approach to understand how APOE4 and other Alzheimer’s disease risk genes damage the brain throughout adult life to increase the risk for neurocognitive decline.

Dr Berger received his BA in biochemistry from Columbia University magna cum laude (with election to Phi Beta Kappa), his MD and PhD from the University of California, San Francisco, and anesthesiology residency and neuro-anesthesiology faculty fellowship at Duke.

Dr Berger’s laboratory has been generously funded by the American Geriatrics Society, Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, International Anesthesia Research Society, Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER), and National Institute on Aging (NIA). Dr Berger was awarded the inaugural William L. Young research award from the Society for Neuroscience in Anesthesia & Critical Care, the Best Paper award in Geriatric Bioscience from the American Geriatrics Society, and Butler-Williams, GEMSSTAR and Beeson scholar awards from the NIA. Dr Berger is a member of the American Society of Anesthesiology Geriatric Task Force, which is currently writing practice guidelines for the anesthetic care of older adults. He has also served on multiple NIH study sections on clinical neuroscience and geriatric care, and is a member of the FAER Academy of Research Mentors.