Jonathan D Cherry, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Biography
Background
Dr. Cherry is an Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. He completed his undergraduate studies with a BS in biology at Ursinus College in 2008. He earned his doctoral degree in Pathology from the University of Rochester in 2015. Dr. Cherry joined the McKee laboratory as a postdoctoral researcher the same year. He was appointed as an assistant professor at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine in 2019. Dr. Cherry also holds a research health scientist position within the VA Boston Healthcare System. His laboratory space is located at the Jamaica Plain VA hospital where he performs his research and helps support the VA-BU-CLF brain bank.
Research Interests
Dr. Cherry’s research interests focus on understanding how neuroinflammation after repetitive traumatic brain injury contributes to CTE pathogenesis. Specifically, Dr. Cherry seeks to identify what role microglia and inflammatory cytokines play in the early onset of hyperphosphorylated tau accumulation and spread.
Dr. Cherry’s research also extend to histology analysis. He is the director of the digital pathology hub present within the BU CTE center. This research entails exploring novel ways to analyze human postmortem tissue for neuropathologic targets and better characterize pathology across a spectrum of neurodegenerative disease including Alzheimer’s disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, frontotemporal lobar degeneration, motor neuron diseases, and others.
Other Positions
- Assistant Professor, Neurology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Education
- University of Rochester, PhD
- Ursinus College, BS
Publications
- Published on 1/13/2025
Kong G, Song Y, Yan Y, Calderazzo SM, Saddala MS, De Labastida Rivera F, Cherry JD, Eckman N, Appel EA, Velenosi A, Swarup V, Kawaguchi R, Ng SS, Kwon BK, Gate D, Engwerda CR, Zhou L, Di Giovanni S. Clonally expanded, targetable, natural killer-like NKG7 T cells seed the aged spinal cord to disrupt myeloid-dependent wound healing. Neuron. 2025 Mar 05; 113(5):684-700.e8. PMID: 39809279.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/6/2024
Nicks R, Shah A, Stathas SA, Kirsch D, Horowitz SM, Saltiel N, Calderazzo SM, Butler MLMD, Cormier KA, Aytan N, Tu-Zahra F, Mathias R, Faheem F, Marcus S, Spurlock E, Fishbein L, Esnault CD, Boden A, Rosen G, Xia W, Daley S, Meng G, Martin BR, Daneshvar DH, Nowinski CJ, Alosco ML, Mez J, Tripodis Y, Huber BR, Alvarez VE, Cherry JD, McKee AC, Stein TD. Neurodegeneration in the cortical sulcus is a feature of chronic traumatic encephalopathy and associated with repetitive head impacts. Acta Neuropathol. 2024 Dec 06; 148(1):79. PMID: 39643767.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/2/2024
Abdolmohammadi B, Tuz-Zahra F, Uretsky M, Nicks R, Mosaheb S, Labonte J, Yhang E, Durape S, Martin B, Palmisano J, Nowinski C, Cherry JD, Alvarez VE, Huber BR, Dams-O'Connor K, Crary J, Dwyer B, Daneshvar DH, Goldstein LE, Au R, Katz DI, Kowall NW, Cantu RC, Stern RA, Alosco ML, Stein TD, Tripodis Y, McKee AC, Mez J. Duration of Ice Hockey Play and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Dec 02; 7(12):e2449106. PMID: 39630446.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 11/27/2024
Uretsky M, Nair E, Burton R, Cronin SW, Rousseau D, Tuz-Zahra F, Durape S, Abdolmohammadi B, Baucom Z, Saltiel N, Shah A, Martin B, Palmisano J, Cherry JD, Daneshvar D, Dwyer B, Dams-O'Connor K, Crary J, Goldstein L, Huber B, Katz D, Kowall N, Cantu RC, Alvarez VE, Stern RA, Stein TD, Tripodis Y, McKee AC, Alosco ML, Mez J. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, Family History of Mental Illness, and Aggression in Brain Donors With Repetitive Head Impact Exposure. Neurology. 2024 Dec 24; 103(12):e210056. PMID: 39602665.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 9/1/2024
Adams JW, Kirsch D, Calderazzo SM, Tuz-Zahra F, Tripodis Y, Mez J, Alosco ML, Alvarez VE, Huber BR, Kubilus C, Cormier KA, Nicks R, Uretsky M, Nair E, Kuzyk E, Aytan N, Cherry JD, Crary JF, Daneshvar DH, Nowinski CJ, Goldstein LE, Dwyer B, Katz DI, Cantu RC, Stern RA, McKee AC, Stein TD. Substantia Nigra Pathology, Contact Sports Play, and Parkinsonism in Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. JAMA Neurol. 2024 Sep 01; 81(9):916-924. PMID: 39008284.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 3/28/2024
Butler MLMD, Pervaiz N, Ypsilantis P, Wang Y, Cammasola Breda J, Mazzilli S, Nicks R, Spurlock E, Hefti MM, Huber BR, Alvarez VE, Stein TD, Campbell JD, McKee AC, Cherry JD. Repetitive head impacts induce neuronal loss and neuroinflammation in young athletes. bioRxiv. 2024 Mar 28. PMID: 38585925.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 2/9/2024
van Amerongen S, Pulukuri SV, Tuz-Zahra F, Tripodis Y, Cherry JD, Bernick C, Geda YE, Wethe JV, Katz DI, Alosco ML, Adler CH, Balcer LJ, Ashton NJ, Blennow K, Zetterberg H, Daneshvar DH, Colasurdo EA, Iliff JJ, Li G, Peskind ER, Shenton ME, Reiman EM, Cummings JL, Stern RA. Inflammatory biomarkers for neurobehavioral dysregulation in former American football players: findings from the DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project. J Neuroinflammation. 2024 Feb 09; 21(1):46. PMID: 38336728.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 10/1/2023
McKee AC, Mez J, Abdolmohammadi B, Butler M, Huber BR, Uretsky M, Babcock K, Cherry JD, Alvarez VE, Martin B, Tripodis Y, Palmisano JN, Cormier KA, Kubilus CA, Nicks R, Kirsch D, Mahar I, McHale L, Nowinski C, Cantu RC, Stern RA, Daneshvar D, Goldstein LE, Katz DI, Kowall NW, Dwyer B, Stein TD, Alosco ML. Neuropathologic and Clinical Findings in Young Contact Sport Athletes Exposed to Repetitive Head Impacts. JAMA Neurol. 2023 Oct 01; 80(10):1037-1050. PMID: 37639244.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 7/25/2023
Rosen G, Kirsch D, Horowitz S, Cherry JD, Nicks R, Kelley H, Uretsky M, Dell'Aquila K, Mathias R, Cormier KA, Kubilus CA, Mez J, Tripodis Y, Stein TD, Alvarez VE, Alosco ML, McKee AC, Huber BR. Three dimensional evaluation of cerebrovascular density and branching in chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2023 Jul 25; 11(1):123. PMID: 37491342.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 6/20/2023
Daneshvar DH, Nair ES, Baucom ZH, Rasch A, Abdolmohammadi B, Uretsky M, Saltiel N, Shah A, Jarnagin J, Baugh CM, Martin BM, Palmisano JN, Cherry JD, Alvarez VE, Huber BR, Weuve J, Nowinski CJ, Cantu RC, Zafonte RD, Dwyer B, Crary JF, Goldstein LE, Kowall NW, Katz DI, Stern RA, Tripodis Y, Stein TD, McClean MD, Alosco ML, McKee AC, Mez J. Leveraging football accelerometer data to quantify associations between repetitive head impacts and chronic traumatic encephalopathy in males. Nat Commun. 2023 Jun 20; 14(1):3470. PMID: 37340004.
Read at: PubMed
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