Jesse B. Mez, MD

Associate Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Jesse Mez, MD, MS, is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Boston University (BU) Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. A neurologist with clinical training in aging and dementia and research training in biostatistics/statistical genetics and epidemiology, he is the Associate Director of the BU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC), Co-Director of Clinical Research of the BU Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center and co-leads the Framingham Heart Study Brain Aging Program Clinical Core. He is also an AD Genetic Consortium and AD Sequencing Project Investigator. His research seeks to understand the genetic, neuropathological, epidemiological, and clinical aspects of AD, CTE, and related dementias. He is an internationally recognized expert on CTE, having been a lead or co-author on several of the most highly cited manuscripts and an invited lecturer in national and international venues on the topic. Ongoing research themes include 1) the relationship between traumatic brain injury, exposure to repetitive head impacts from contact sports and military service, and dementia-related outcomes and their interaction with genetic factors, 2) clinicopathologic correlation in CTE with the goal to accurately diagnose CTE in life, 3) genetic architecture, neuropathology and clinical course of AD subtypes, as defined by variation in neuropsychological presentation and 4) interaction between genetic and environmental factors and risk for and resilience from AD. He is a Principal Investigator or Core/Project Leader, on six NIH and DOD-funded grants and is an author of more than 150 research articles, reviews, editorials, and book chapters. He also cares for patients with AD and related dementias, including those at risk for CTE in the BU/Boston Medical Center Memory and Aging Clinic.

He received his AB from Cornell University in Mathematics, his MD from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and his MS in Biostatistics with an emphasis on Statistical Genetics from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. He completed his Neurology Residency at the Harvard Mass General Brigham Program in Boston. This was followed by a Clinical Fellowship in Aging and Dementia and a Research Fellowship in Neuroepidemiology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Publications

  • Published 7/1/2026

    Miner AE, Zetterberg H, Blennow K, Groh JR, Singh A, Dieckhoff K, Tripodis Y, Adler CH, Balcer LJ, Bernick C, Peskind E, Asken BM, Tanner JA, Rabinovici GD, Banks SJ, Barr WB, Wethe JV, Cantu RC, Dodick DW, Mez J, Palmisano JN, Martin B, Stein TD, McKee AC, Cummings JL, Shenton ME, Reiman EM, Stern RA, Ashton NJ, Alosco ML. Plasma Phosphorylated Tau 217 in Participants at Risk for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. JAMA Netw Open. 2026 Jul 01; 9(7):e2622966. PMID: 42440317.

    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 6/16/2026

    Marino FR, Kim M, Hwang PH, Tripodis Y, Alosco M, Mez J, McKee A, Au R, Thomas RJ, Shih L. Impact of Sleep Quality on Gait Variability: Pilot Cohort Study. JMIR Aging. 2026 Jun 16; 9:e81630. PMID: 42302301.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 6/13/2026

    Conway Kleven BD, Chien LC, Surwill D, Alosco ML, Wethe JV, Tripodis Y, Adler CH, Shenton ME, Pasternak O, Katz DI, Peskind E, Balcer LJ, Koerte IK, Mez J, Reiman EM, Cantu RC, Stern RA, Zetterberg H, Bernick C, Cummings JL. Cognitive, biomarker, and neuroimaging indices associated with traumatic encephalopathy syndrome across two independent athlete cohorts. Alzheimers Res Ther. 2026 Jun 13. PMID: 42288852.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 6/7/2026

    Miner AE, Kmiecik MJ, Namburi N, Dunckley N, Adler CH, Driver-Dunckley ED, Nowinski CJ, Gottesman J, Tripodis Y, Stern RA, McKee AC, Stein TD, Mez J, Briggs FBS, Alosco ML. Associations Between Cumulative Head Trauma and Self-Reported Parkinsonism and Parkinson's Disease in Former Soccer Players. Mov Disord. 2026 Jun 07. PMID: 42252813.

    Read at: PubMed

Other Positions

  • Investigator
    Framingham Heart Study
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
    Boston University

Education

  • University of Maryland School of Medicine, MD
  • Columbia University School of Public Health, MS
  • Cornell University, BS