{"id":57031,"date":"2018-04-20T09:35:55","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T13:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/?p=57031"},"modified":"2018-04-20T09:35:55","modified_gmt":"2018-04-20T13:35:55","slug":"med-researcher-ann-mckee-makes-times-100-most-influential-people-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/2018\/04\/20\/med-researcher-ann-mckee-makes-times-100-most-influential-people-list\/","title":{"rendered":"MED Researcher Ann McKee Makes TIME\u2019s<\/i> 100 Most Influential People List"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Carmen Yul\u00edn Cruz (CAS\u201984), San Juan mayor, also named<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
Two BU affiliates, MED’s Ann McKee, a CTE researcher, and San Juan Mayor Carmen Yul\u00edn Cruz (CAS\u201984), made TIME\u2019s list of 100 most influential people. Photo courtesy of Time<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ann McKee<\/a>\u00a0\u201cmay have saved my life,\u201d former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland writes<\/a>\u00a0in TIME<\/em> magazine\u2019s annual list of the world\u2019s 100 most influential people<\/a>. Her research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the progressive brain disease crippling many athletes and soldiers, persuaded Borland to abandon pro football after just one season.<\/p>\n

Joining McKee, a School of Medicine professor of neurology and pathology, on TIME<\/em>\u2019s list is\u00a0Carmen Yul\u00edn Cruz<\/a>\u00a0(CAS\u201984), mayor of San Juan, P.R., cited for her \u201cpassionate, courageous and articulate\u201d advocacy for the island after it was devastated by Hurricane Maria last September. The storm caused up to $95 billion in damage and plunged the island into a humanitarian crisis.<\/p>\n

McKee says TIME<\/em>\u2019s honor is a tribute to her research team. \u201cI know what enormous hard work, thick skin, and persistence this has required from all of us over the past 10 years. I am very grateful to receive this tribute on behalf of the entire team.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Boston
Citing her pioneering research into CTE, TIME praised McKee, a School of Medicine professor of neurology and pathology, for her \u201ccuriosity and integrity.\u201d Photo by Jackie Ricciardi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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It\u2019s not the first time that McKee, director of BU\u2019s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center<\/a>, has grabbed national media attention. Last year, she made global headlines when she announced that 27-year-old Aaron Hernandez, a former New England Patriot and convicted murderer who\u2019d committed suicide in jail, had the worst case of CTE<\/a>\u00a0ever found in a young person.<\/p>\n

McKee and her team made news again this year with a study<\/a>\u00a0suggesting that the disease may not be caused by concussions, as had been suspected, but by repeated head injuries. If true, efforts to protect athletes from concussions would have to be redirected toward the more difficult task of reducing head impacts and \u201cthe fundamental danger these activities pose to human health,\u201d McKee said at the time.<\/p>\n

Locally, in December the Boston Globe <\/em>anointed her 2017 Bostonian of the Year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CTE occurs in four stages in people who have suffered repeated concussions and other brain trauma. It is associated with dementia, mood changes, and aggression.<\/p>\n

Borland\u2019s accompanying essay in the April 30 TIME<\/em> notes that pioneering research hasn\u2019t always brought McKee praise: \u201cHer reward for great scientific breakthroughs has often been sharp criticism. Dr. McKee has even endured personal attacks. She is reviled by the old-boys\u2019 club of a multibillion-dollar [sports] industry. Punishment for doing your job well is an unparalleled professional pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet Dr. McKee shows up to work every day. She shares her findings. And she tells the truth, however uncomfortable. That is grace under pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CTE Center\u2019s brain bank<\/a>\u00a0stores hundreds of brains donated by professional athletes and their families and by many others. McKee, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, has published more than 70 percent of the world\u2019s CTE case studies and has testified before Congress.<\/p>\n

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\"Yulin<\/p>\n

Actor Benicio Del Torro praised Cruz in Time<\/em> for her \u201cuncompromising refusal to let anyone ignore the lives of those affected by [Hurricane Maria]\u201d. Photo by Christopher Gregory<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Cruz, who took on President Trump in a public Twitter spat<\/a>\u00a0over the federal government\u2019s glacial response to the widespread power outages and water shortages wrought by Maria, received a TIME<\/em> shout-out by Puerto Rico\u2013born actor Benicio Del Toro.\u201cLittle by little, her words got the crisis the attention it desperately needs, just as if it were happening in Florida or Texas,\u201d the Oscar-winner writes. \u201cCruz\u2019s legacy will be marked by her uncompromising refusal to let anyone ignore the lives of those affected by the hurricane. For this we are forever grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The magazine broke its list of 100 into five categories: McKee is among those in \u201cPioneers\u201d; \u201cArtists\u201d includes Nicole Kidman, Gail Gadot, and This Is Us <\/em>star Sterling K. Brown; Cruz appears in the \u201cLeaders\u201d category along with Donald Trump and<\/em> Robert Mueller, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle; \u201cIcons\u201d includes names like Rihanna and Chadwick Boseman; and among the \u201cTitans\u201d listed is Oprah Winfrey.<\/p>\n

This BU Today<\/em> story was written by Rich Barlow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The list, now in its 15th year, recognizes the activism, innovation and achievement of the world\u2019s most influential individuals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":903,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[89,91,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57031"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/903"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57031"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57034,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57031\/revisions\/57034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}