Ann C. McKee, MD

William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor, Boston University

Biography

Dr. McKee completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin and received her medical degree from the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. She completed residency training in neurology at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital and fellowship training in neuropathology at Massachusetts General Hospital. She was Assistant Professor of Neuropathology at Harvard Medical School from 1991-94, when she became Associate Professor of Neurology and Pathology at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine. In 2011, she was promoted to Professor of Neurology and Pathology. Dr. McKee directs the Neuropathology Service for the New England Veterans Administration Medical Centers (VISN-1) and the Brain Banks for the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, Framingham Heart Study, and Centenarian Study, which are all based at the Bedford VAMC. Dr. McKee is also the Chief Neuropathologist for the National VA ALS Brain Bank.

Dr. McKee’s research interests center on the neuropathological alterations of neurodegenerative diseases, with a primary focus on the role of tau protein, axonal injury, trauma, vascular injury, and neurodegeneration. Much of her current work centers on mild traumatic brain injury from contact sports and military service and its long-term consequences. As a board-certified neurologist and neuropathologist, she is particularly interested in the clinical, behavioral and psychological manifestations of pathological disease and the neuroanatomical localization of clinical symptoms. She has written widely on many neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy Body disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Multiple System Atrophy, Frontotemporal Degeneration, Corticobasal Degeneration and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). She has been an invited participant in several NIH-sponsored workshops on Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Vascular Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury. Dr. McKee’s work has been essential in establishing the clinical and pathological spectrum of trauma induced neurodegenerative disease, including CTE and Chronic Traumatic Encephalomyelopathy.

Recently, she has received widespread acclaim for her case series featured in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that found nearly every former National Football League (NFL) player who played at least one regular season game and whose brain then was donated for research was diagnosed post-mortem with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

Publications

  • Published 10/14/2026

    Bertran L, Aldecoa I, Sindikubwabo A, Vidal N, Blesa R, Martínez-Corral M, Nos C, Santiago V, González A, Iranzo Á, Nowinski CJ, McKee AC, Valle RS, Molina-Porcel L. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy in a neuropathologically confirmed Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease cohort. Brain Pathol. 2026 Oct 14; e70156. PMID: 42876057.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 9/15/2026

    Mulayi SC, Aaronson A, Goostrey KJ, Tuz-Zahra F, Tripodis Y, Cole-French WS, Roebuck M, Schneider G, Pine BN, Palmisano JN, Martin BM, Zavitz KH, Katz DI, Nowinski CJ, McKee AC, Stein TD, Mackin RS, McClean MD, Weuve J, Mez J, Weiner MW, Nosheny RL, Alosco ML, Stern RA. Cognitive and Behavioral Functioning in Female Former Soccer Players: Results from the Head Impact and Trauma Surveillance Study (HITSS). Brain Sci. 2026 Sep 15; 16(9). PMID: 42793399.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 9/1/2026

    Aaronson A, Nosek SB, Abdolmohammadi B, Hadley J, Labonte J, Uretsky M, Mosaheb S, Nowinski CJ, Altaras C, Asken BM, Banks SJ, Barr WB, Dams-O'Connor K, Hromas G, Ly MT, Wethe JV, Martin BM, Palmisano JN, Stern RA, Tripodis Y, Stein TD, McKee AC, Mez J, Alosco ML. Neuropsychological Profile of Autopsy-Confirmed Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. JAMA Netw Open. 2026 Sep 01; 9(9):e2631754. PMID: 42684699.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 9/1/2026

    Luster CB, Nowinski CJ, Abdolmohammadi B, Feigel ED, Mastrodicasa MJ, Finegan B, Goldstein L, Katz DI, Cantu RC, Dwyer B, Tripodis Y, Stein TD, Alosco ML, McKee AC, Mez J, Daneshvar DH. Neurodegenerative Disease Death Certification Among National Football League Players With Dementia. JAMA Netw Open. 2026 Sep 01; 9(9):e2631614. PMID: 42678698.

    Read at: PubMed

  • 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

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Other Positions

  • Professor, Neurology
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Professor, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Investigator
    Framingham Heart Study
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
    Boston University
  • Graduate Medical Sciences Educator and Mentor (Primary Mentor of Graduate Students)
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences

Websites

Education

  • Case School of Medicine, MD
  • University of Wisconsin Madison, BS

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