Ann McKee

Background

• William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor of Neurology & Pathology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
• Director, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and CTE Centers at Boston University
• Neuropathologist and expert in Neurodegenerative Diseases at VA Boston Healthcare System

Ann McKee, MD, William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor of Neurology and Pathology, is a board-certified neurologist and neuropathologist whose research has significantly advanced scientific understanding of post-traumatic neurodegeneration and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

Her work established that repetitive head impacts—including both concussive and non-concussive impacts experienced by athletes in contact sports, military personnel, and individuals exposed to domestic violence—can lead to a progressive tauopathy, CTE. Dr. McKee defined the principal neuropathological features necessary for diagnosing and staging CTE. Her extensive research, which includes the creation of the world’s largest brain bank focused on brain trauma, has been instrumental in recognizing CTE as a major public health concern worldwide.

Dr. McKee has investigated the brains of thousands of athletes, military veterans, and other individuals exposed to repeated brain trauma. Her innovative techniques, such as multiplex immunofluorescence, single-nucleus RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, and fluorescent microscopy with 3D imaging, have demonstrated that repetitive head impacts lead to changes in gene expression, neuroinflammation, vascular injury, blood-brain barrier disruption, and the loss of neurons, white matter, and synapses. She was the first to report the association between ALS and CTE. She reported the first case of CTE in ice hockey, soccer, mixed martial arts, baseball, high school football, and college football. Dr. McKee reported the youngest athlete ever diagnosed with CTE (17 years). Her team defined the roles of other pathological proteins, TDP-43, beta-amyloid, and alpha-synuclein, in the development and progression of CTE.  Throughout her career, Dr. McKee has consistently raised awareness about the safety risks associated with CTE, particularly for athletes in contact sports and military veterans exposed to repetitive head trauma and blast injuries.

Dr. McKee completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin and earned her medical degree from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in neurology at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital and her neuropathology training at Massachusetts General Hospital. Additionally, she served as an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.

Through her work with the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the Framingham Heart Study, Dr. McKee also helped define microvascular injury and the neuropathology of aging and Alzheimer’s disease.

ADRC & CTE Centers Role

Dr. McKee is the Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and CTE Centers at Boston University, where she is responsible for conducting neuropathological analyses of brain tissue and maintaining the Center’s Brain Bank. Dr. McKee also leads clinical-pathological consensus conferences as part of the Centers Research Seminar series.

Awards/Memberships

National Academy of Medicine

Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal, Paul Volker Career Achievement Award, Partnership for Public Service

Henry Wisniewski Lifetime Achievement Award in Alzheimer’s Disease Research, Alzheimer’s Association

William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professors

Time 100 Most Influential People in the World, 2018, Time Magazine

Time 50 Most Influential People in Healthcare 2018, Time Magazine

Bostonian of the Year 2017

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Click here to view a full list of Dr. McKee’s publications.