Research

BU’s Ann McKee, MD, Awarded $4.2M NIH Award

Ann McKee, MD, a William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor of Neurology and Pathology at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, and director of the BU CTE Center, has been awarded a two-year, $4.2M grant from the NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke for her project “Consequences of Exposure to Repetitive Head Impacts Across the Lifespan.”

Each year, millions of people are exposed to repetitive head impacts (RHI) from contact sports, military service and interpersonal violence. Although RHI typically occurs early in life, the health consequences of RHI increase over the lifespan and may result in an increased risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and AD-related dementias (ADRD),including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

According to McKee, the overarching goal of this project is to identify the early-life changes produced by RHI exposure that lead to CTE, AD and ADRD in later life and ultimately spotlight biomarkers for early detection and potential therapeutic targets to interrupt these diseases in youth (17-39 years) to mid-life (40-59 years).

“We recently showed that RHI experienced early in life initiates structural brain changes, inflammation, changes to small blood vessels, neuron loss, and early CTE. This Lifespan grant addresses a critical knowledge gap by examining how RHI experienced in early life (youth, teenage, and young adult years) causes brain changes that develop intoneurodegeneration with aging,” she explains. 

McKee is a board-certified neurologist and neuropathologist whose research has significantly advanced scientific understanding of post-traumatic neurodegeneration and CTE.

Her work established that RHI—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. 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.

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 identify the association between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and CTE. She reported the first case of CTE in ice hockey, soccer, mixed martial arts, baseball, high school, and college football. 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, she 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.

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.