Awards & Honors

Ann McKee, MD, Receives Zenith Fellows Award

Ann McKee, MD, a William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor of Neurology and Pathology, has been selected as the recipient of a three-year, $450,000 Zenith Fellows Award from the Alzheimer’s Association for her project, “Contribution of Microvascular Alterations to Tau Progression in AD and CTE.” Zenith Fellows Awards are among the most prestigious in Alzheimer’s research worldwide.

More than seven million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). By 2050, this number is projected to rise to nearly 13 million. “Understanding the changes to small blood vessels in the brain in early AD and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) will help identify novel strategies to stop these diseases before they cause irreversible damage,” explains McKee, who serves as director of BU’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and BU CTE Center, as well as chief of neuropathology at VA Boston Healthcare System.

McKee believes that changes in the small blood vessels initiate p-tau deposition in AD and CTE and promote the spread of p-tau pathology across brain regions with aging. Identifying these key small blood vessel changes will enable the discovery of biomarkers to identify individuals at risk and therapies to reduce p-tau pathology in early disease.

To determine the microvascular alterations associated with p-tau initiation and progression in AD and CTE, McKee will analyze hundreds of RNA transcripts at a single-cell resolution in the hippocampus and frontal cortex of individuals with low- and mid-stage AD and low- and mid-stage CTE. She will also use supervised and unsupervised machine learning and the CTE Center’s digital slide library of AD and CTE to detect subtle microvascular alterations imperceptible by the human eye.

Through her work with the BU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the Framingham Heart Study, McKee helped define microvascular injury and the neuropathology of aging and AD. She is a board-certified neurologist and neuropathologist whose research has significantly advanced scientific understanding of post-traumatic neurodegeneration and CTE.

McKee’s 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 progressive abnormal accumulation of tau protein as 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.

McKee has investigated the brains of thousands of athletes, military veterans, and other individuals exposed to repeated brain trauma. Her research has shown 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.

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.      

“Through our prestigious Zenith Fellow Awards, the Alzheimer’s Association is proud to fund researchers making major strides in dementia research,” said Heather Snyder, PhD, Alzheimer’s Association senior vice president of medical and scientific relations. “Dr. McKee’s work reflects the bold, innovative science that moves us closer to breakthrough treatments and, ultimately, a future free of Alzheimer’s and other dementias.”    
The Zenith Fellows Awards are among the most prestigious worldwide for Alzheimer’s and dementia science. With funding from Zenith Society members, the program has provided more than $48 million in awards to 152 leading Alzheimer’s researchers in nine countries since 1991. The awards continue to be supported by members of the Alzheimer’s Association Zenith Society who have an exceptional commitment to the advancement of Alzheimer’s and other dementia research.