Victor E. Alvarez

Assistant Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Alvarez completed his undergraduate degree at Boston College and earned his MD from St. George’s University. He completed residency training in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, fellowship training in Oncologic Surgical Pathology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, General Surgical Pathology fellowship training at Danbury Hospital, and Neuropathology fellowship training at Brown University. Dr. Alvarez is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Boston University and manages laboratory and Brain Bank operations at the Bedford VA Hospital and the Boston VA Hospital, Jamaica Plain. He is a member of the New England Veterans Administration Medical Centers (VISN-1) Brain Banks and the Brain Banks for the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, and Framingham Heart Study.

Dr. Alvarez’s research interests center on the relationship between neurotrauma and neurodegenerative diseases. Much of his current work centers on standardizing Brain Banking protocols between the various centers. He is an acting neuropathologist involved with the brain banks for the Boston University Alzheimer Disease Center, CTE Center, and Framingham Heart Study as well as the PTSD brain bank. Dr. Alvarez is a member of the College of American Pathologists and the American Society of Clinical Pathologists.

Publications

  • Published 8/25/2026

    Daneshvar DH, Nowinski CJ, Abdolmohammadi B, Luster CB, Uretsky M, Martin BM, Palmisano JN, Weuve J, McClean MD, Cherry JD, Dwyer B, Feigel ED, Mastrodicasa MJ, Alvarez VE, Rabinovici GD, Seeley WW, Grinberg LT, Crary JF, Stein TD, Goldstein L, Katz DI, Zafonte RD, Tripodis Y, Cantu RC, Stern RA, Alosco ML, McKee AC, Mez J. Prevalence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy at death in National Football League players: retrospective population based cohort study, 2008-21. BMJ. 2026 Aug 25; 394:e100418. PMID: 42642105.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 8/14/2026

    Pennington HE, Shapiro D, Empawi J, Aytan N, Alvarez VE, Mez J, Alosco ML, Zhang X, McKee AC, Stein TD, Cherry JD, Labadorf A. Proteomic analysis of human chronic traumatic encephalopathy brain implicates proteasome and ribosome dysfunction in disease severity. Mol Neurodegener Adv. 2026; 2(1):36. PMID: 42603909.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 6/23/2026

    Tuz-Zahra F, Hallowell E, Tilton C, Alvarez VE, Aytan N, Hawkins S, Mez J, Alosco M, McKee AC, Tripodis Y, Stein TD, Cherry JD. CTE has multiple pathologic variants that might relate to different clinical symptom presentation. Acta Neuropathol. 2026 Jun 23; 151(1). PMID: 42334639.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 6/2/2026

    Mez J, Abdolmohammadi B, Durape S, Dwyer B, Alosco ML, Yew B, Pritchett A, Fernández NB, Hicks A, Uretsky M, Ryder M, Faheem F, Nosek S, Martin B, Palmisano J, Nowinski C, Tripodis Y, O'Connor KD, Goldstein LE, Katz DI, Cantu RC, Kowall NW, Stern RA, Alvarez VE, Huber BR, Crary JF, Stein TD, McKee AC, Daneshvar DH. Validity of the NINDS traumatic encephalopathy syndrome criteria for predicting chronic traumatic encephalopathy. medRxiv. 2026 Jun 02. PMID: 42282171.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 12/1/2025

    Stein T, Breen K, Aytan N, Hawkins S, Nicks R, Alvarez V, Mez J, Blusztajn J, Cherry J, McKee A, Lin H. Duration of contact sports play associated with aberrant DNA methylation in human frontal cortex. Res Sq. 2025 Dec 01. PMID: 41377989.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 106 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Investigator
    Framingham Heart Study
  • Investigator, Alzheimer's Disease Research Center
    Boston University
  • Investigator, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Investigator, PTSD Brain Bank
    VA Healthcare System

Websites

Education

  • St. George's University School of Medicine, MD

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