Mary E. Charlson, MD, is the William T. Foley Distinguished Professor in Medicine, Division Chief, Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluative Sciences Research, Department of Medicine, and Program Chairperson for the Master of Science Program in Clinical Epidemiology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University/New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Dr. Charlson is a well-established methodologist and clinical epidemiologist with a strong background in multidisciplinary research, including clinical trials, outcomes research, and population-based studies. She is an international leader in the measurement and improvement of risk-adjusted quality outcomes. She developed a method of assessing the prognostic impact of comorbid conditions, the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), which is one of the most widely cited articles with more than 43,000 citations. She leads a multidisciplinary research team that performs clinical trials, outcomes research, and population-based studies. Her work has focused on developing predictive models in chronic illness and using the models to develop interventions to improve outcomes in inpatients and outpatients. She has also translated basic theories from economics and psychology to develop individually tailored strategies that patients with chronic illness can employ to successfully change their health risk behaviors.

Dr. Charlson is currently conducting an innovative cluster randomized controlled trial, called Tipping Points, designed to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of two approaches to preventing significant destabilization, leading to unplanned hospitalization and increased disability for patients with high comorbidity, that is, multiple chronic diseases defined by an enhanced Charlson Comorbidity Index ≥4.  This cluster RCT has the potential to transform the care for patients with high comorbidity by helping motivate patients to engage in self-management and to successfully navigate the barriers, challenges, and stresses leading to destabilization, hospitalization, and increased disability. 

Dr. Charlson focuses on prognosis and interventions in chronic illness.  She was the principal architect of multiple CABG patients and angioplasty patients. She was also a principal investigator of a program project from the NHLBI consisting of three randomized trials involving over 1200 patients evaluating the impact of positive affect and self-affirmation on the ability of patients with chronic cardiopulmonary disease to change their behavior. She has also studied the effect of meditation on the quality of life among breast cancer survivors.

Dr. Charlson received her medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine. After completing her residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at Yale. She is a member of the American Association of Physicians, the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research Society of General Internal Medicine, the Society for Epidemiological Research, and a Fellow in the American College of Physicians.