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 10/1/2025

    Kanner H, Tilton C, Alvarez VE, Stein TD, McKee AC, Cherry JD. Comparison of multiple quantitative strategies for neuropathologic image analyses. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2025 Oct 01; 84(10):928-940. PMID: 40814960.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 9/1/2025

    Alosco ML, Morrison M, Au R, Steinberg EG, Mwicigi J, Ly M, Altaras C, Lenio S, Abdennadher M, O'Connor MK, Tripodis Y, Palmisano J, Dixon D, Martin B, Schneider G, Groh JR, Ellison A, Sheppard D, Farris CW, Nowinski C, Cantu RC, Turk KW, Farrer L, Jun G, Goldstein LE, Qiu WQ, Stein TD, Budson AE, McKee AC, Mez J. Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center Clinical Core: Infrastructure to facilitate research on post-traumatic Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Alzheimers Dement. 2025 Sep; 21(9):e70654. PMID: 40923312.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 8/13/2025

    Abdelhakeem AA, Chang S, Novoseltseva A, Hyman M, Mckee AC, Bigio IJ, Boas DA, Huber BR, Wang H. Quantitative analysis of lipofuscin in neurodegenerative diseases using serial sectioning two-photon microscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy. Neurophotonics. 2025 Jul; 12(3):035007. PMID: 40809089.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 8/8/2025

    Babcock KJ, Abdolmohammadi B, McKee AC. Recent Advances in Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. Am J Pathol. 2025 Aug 08. PMID: 40784657.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 8/1/2025

    Novoseltseva A, Kureli G, Chang S, Yang J, Antinew PD, Chandra A, Berghol S, Spurlock E, McKee AC, Huber B, Wang H, Boas DA, Bigio IJ. Imaging myelin degradation in ex vivo prefrontal cortex tissue blocks in Alzheimer's disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Alzheimers Dement. 2025 Aug; 21(8):e70582. PMID: 40843933.

    Read at: PubMed

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 Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students)
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences

Education

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