Research that has real-world impact
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Written by Rebecca Beyer | Published November 2024
Before the work of the Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center at Boston University’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, there was no precise characterization of CTE, a neurodegenerative brain disease. Researchers couldn’t even point to a comprehensive compilation of clinical or demographic data about those affected.
Since the center’s founding in 2009, however, we know a lot more about the condition, which affects people with a history of repetitive head impacts, including athletes, military service members, and first responders. The center has published more than 100 studies on CTE and traumatic brain injury, including papers that link cumulative hits to the head to loss of white matter in the brain and tackle football to increased risks for Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
The CTE Center is just one of many hubs for research at Boston University that makes a real-world impact. BU is also home to the Community Service Center, founded as “The League” nearly 40 years ago by students wanting to help their community; and the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL), which focuses on understanding how pathogens cause disease and how to diagnose, prevent, and treat emerging threats.
Though the mission of each may be different, they have something in common beyond their public-interest approach: They all rely on alumni support. And they have turned that support into tangible results.
A recent discovery at NEIDL, for instance, led to a new type of self-amplifying RNA vaccine for COVID-19 that produced results comparable to existing messenger RNA vaccines at lower doses in mice. And, at the Community Service Center, BU students can participate in Alternative Service Breaks around the country; Days of Service locally; or the Student Food Rescue project, which transports unbought food to transitional homes, shelters, and children’s programs.
At the CTE Center, gifts of any size help researchers get one step closer to preventing and treating CTE, which has been linked to memory loss, aggression, and anxiety, among other symptoms. In 2023, after examining the brains of 376 deceased former NFL players, the CTE Center published a study showing that 92 percent of the studied players had the disease.
Right now, CTE can only be diagnosed after death. But with funding from the National Institutes of Health, industry groups, foundations, and donors like you, the center is exploring scalable and accessible methods for detecting CTE, including through blood tests, as part of clinical trials. Other trials are studying how repetitive head impacts affect a person’s risk of developing later-life neurologic disorders and brain health issues, and the impact of neurological trauma on stunt performers.
When you give to BU, your contribution accelerates world-class research that benefits countless people around the world. On Giving Tuesday, Tuesday, December 3, your gift can make an even bigger impact because it may be matched by other donors or sponsors. Make a gift today to support one of these great causes or others.