{"id":6265,"date":"2014-10-16T15:46:32","date_gmt":"2014-10-16T19:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/alzresearch\/?page_id=6265"},"modified":"2023-02-28T12:58:14","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T17:58:14","slug":"ctecenter","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/alzresearch\/ctecenter\/","title":{"rendered":"About the Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boston University\u2019s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center conducts high-impact, innovative research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy and other long-term consequences of repetitive brain trauma in athletes and military personnel. The mission of the CTE Center is to conduct state-of-the-art research on CTE, including its neuropathology and pathogenesis, clinical presentation, genetics, and other risk factors, biomarkers, methods of detection during life, and methods of prevention and treatment. <\/span><\/p>\n

The CTE Center is an independent academic research center located at the Boston University School of Medicine. It is part of the\u00a0<\/span>Boston University Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Research Center (BU ADRC)<\/a>, which was established in 1996 as one of 38 ADR Centers in the U.S. and funded by the National Institutes of Health to advance research on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.<\/p>\n

In collaboration with the\u00a0<\/span>VA Boston Healthcare System<\/a>, the\u00a0<\/span>Concussion Legacy Foundation<\/a>, and other NIH-funded ADRCs, the BU CTE Center conducts high-impact, innovative research on\u00a0<\/span>chronic traumatic encephalopathy<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>and other long-term consequences of repetitive brain trauma in athletes and military personnel.<\/p>\n

Ann McKee, MD<\/a>, William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor of Neurology and Pathology, is Director of the BU CTE Center and UNITE Brain Bank. Dr. McKee also directs the\u00a0<\/span>Neuropathology Core<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>of the\u00a0<\/span>Boston University ADRC<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>and is the Chief of Neuropathology for the\u00a0<\/span>VA Boston Healthcare System<\/a>, including the UNITE Brain Bank, BU ADRC Brain Bank, and Framingham Heart Study Brain Bank. The neuropathologists,\u00a0<\/span>Thor Stein, MD, PhD<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Bertrand (Russ) Huber MD, PhD\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0Victor Alvarez, MD<\/a>\u00a0 participate in the daily operations of the UNITE Brain Bank and conduct neuropathological analyses and research for the CTE Center.\u00a0<\/span>Robert Stern, PhD<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>directs the\u00a0<\/span>Clinical Research<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>team.\u00a0<\/span>Michael Alosco, PhD<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>Jesse Mez, MD, MS<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>are active clinical researchers and participate in clinical neurological, neuroimaging, neuropsychological, and biomarker data collection.\u00a0<\/span>Dr. Lee Goldstein, MD, PhD<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>heads the\u00a0<\/span>molecular research<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>team.<\/p>\n

Research conducted at the CTE Center continues to lead the field in furthering the understanding of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). The UNITE Brain Bank is the largest tissue repository in the world focused on traumatic brain injury (TBI) and CTE. The UNITE Brain Bank contains more than 1,200 brains, including over 700 brains that have been diagnosed with CTE using the recently defined NINDS criteria for the diagnosis of CTE. For more information on the neuropathological diagnosis of CTE, please see\u00a0<\/span>The Second NINDS\/NIBIB Consensus Meeting to Define Neuropathological Criteria for the Diagnosis of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dr. McKee and her team of neuropathologists and other investigators have published a large number of studies focused on CTE (see below).<\/p>\nLearn More<\/a>\n

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For support and resources navigating suspected CTE as a patient or caregiver, visit the Concussion Legacy Foundation\u2019s CTE Resources Center<\/a> or reach out to the CLF HelpLine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Clinical Research Program is located at:
\nBU School of Medicine in the Robinson Complex, Suite 7800, Boston, MA 02118
\nMap and Directions to the BU Medical Campus
\nDirections from the BU School of Medicine Main Entrance to the CTE Center Offices<\/p>\n

The CLF-BU CTE Brain Bank is located at:
\nThe Bedford Veterans Administration Medical Center, 200 Springs Rd, Bedford, MA 01730
\nPlease view our facility map to see the locations of our parking lots, handicapped parking areas, and facility buildings.<\/p>\n

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes (and others) with a history of repetitive brain trauma, including symptomatic concussions as well as asymptomatic subconcussive hits to the head. CTE has been known to affect boxers since the 1920s. However, recent reports have been published of neuropathologically confirmed CTE in retired professional football players and other athletes who have a history of repetitive brain trauma. This trauma triggers progressive degeneration of the brain tissue, including the build-up of an abnormal protein called tau.\u00a0 These changes in the brain can begin months, years, or even decades after the last brain trauma or end of active athletic involvement.\u00a0 The brain degeneration is associated with memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, and, eventually, progressive dementia.<\/p>\n

In both sets of photographs, above, the brain tissue has been immunostained for tau protein, which appears as a dark brown color. Tau immunostained sections of medial temporal lobe from 3 individuals<\/em><\/p>\n