Richard M. Sherva PhD
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Genetics
Member, Genome Science Institute
72 E. Concord Street | (617) 638-5361sherva@bu.edu

Sections
Biomedical Genetics
Centers
Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
Biography
My primary interest is in exploring the genetic epidemiology of complex disease using linkage and association methods. I’ve worked on cardiovascular phenotypes including hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and stroke, as well as psychiatric diseases including addiction and ADHD, with a focus on gene x (gene, environment, drug treatment) interactions. My future work will likely involve pharmacogenetics and personalized medicine, with specific focus on Alzheimer’s disease.
Other Positions
Education
Epidemiology, PhD, University of Minnesota
Epidemiology, MPH, University of Minnesota
Biology, BA, Gustavus Adolphus College
Publications
Kang M, Ang TFA, Devine SA, Sherva R, Mukherjee S, Trittschuh EH, Scollard P, Lee M, Choi SE, Klinedinst B, Nakano C, Dumitrescu LC, Hohman TJ, Cuccaro ML, Saykin AJ, Kukull WA, Bennett DA, Wang LS, Mayeux RP, Haines JL, Pericak-Vance MA, Schellenberg GD, Crane PK, Au R, Lunetta KL, Mez J, Farrer LA. Genome-wide pleiotropy analysis of longitudinal blood pressure and harmonized cognitive performance measures. Alzheimers Dement. 2025 Sep; 21(9):e70681. PMID: 40951946.
Published on 7/24/2025Sherva R, Zhu C, Zhang R, Mez J, Hauger R, Merritt VC, Panizzon M, Gaziano JM, Catanzaro V, Schellenberg GD, Pericak-Vance M, Haines JL, Wang LS, Mayeux R, Farrer LA, Logue MW. Genome-wide association studies of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders stratified by sex, onset age, and Apolipoprotein E genotype reveal novel risk loci in African Americans. Alzheimers Res Ther. 2025 Jul 24; 17(1):171. PMID: 40708016.
Published on 7/17/2025Rajabli F, Benchek P, Tosto G, Kushch N, Sha J, Bazemore K, Zhu C, Lee WP, Haut J, Hamilton-Nelson KL, Wheeler NR, Zhao Y, Farrell JJ, Grunin MA, Leung YY, Kuksa PP, Li D, da Fonseca EL, Mez JB, Palmer EL, Pillai J, Sherva RM, Song YE, Zhang X, Ikeuchi T, Iqbal T, Pathak O, Valladares O, Reyes-Dumeyer D, Kuzma AB, Abner E, Adams LD, Adams PM, Aguirre A, Albert MS, Albin RL, Allen M, Alvarez L, Apostolova LG, Arnold SE, Asthana S, Atwood CS, Auerbach S, Ayres G, Baldwin CT, Barber RC, Barnes LL, Barral S, Beach TG, Becker JT, Beecham GW, Beekly D, Benitez BA, Bennett D, Bertelson J, Bird TD, Blacker D, Boeve BF, Bowen JD, Boxer A, Brewer J, Burke JR, Burns JM, Buxbaum JD, Cairns NJ, Cantwell LB, Cao C, Carlson CS, Carlsson CM, Carney RM, Carrasquillo MM, Chasse S, Chesselet MF, Chin NA, Chui HC, Chung J, Craft S, Crane PK, Cribbs DH, Crocco EA, Cruchaga C, Cuccaro ML, Cullum M, Darby E, Davis B, De Jager PL, DeCarli C, DeToledo J, Dick M, Dickson DW, Dombroski BA, Doody RS, Duara R, Ertekin-Taner N, Evans DA, Faber KM, Fairchild TJ, Fallon KB, Fardo DW, Farlow MR, Fernandez-Hernandez V, Ferris S, Friedland RP, Foroud TM, Frosch MP, Fulton-Howard B, Galasko DR, Gamboa A, Gearing M, Geschwind DH, Ghetti B, Gilbert JR, Go RCP, Goate AM, Grabowski TJ, Graff-Radford NR, Green RC, Growdon JH, Hakonarson H, Hall J, Hamilton RL, Harari O, Hardy J, Harrell LE, Head E, Henderson VW, Hernandez M, Hohman T, Honig LS, Huebinger RM, Huentelman MJ, Hulette CM, Hyman BT, Hynan LS, Ibanez L, Jarvik GP, Jayadev S, Jin LW, Johnson K, Johnson L, Kamboh MI, Karydas AM, Katz MJ, Kauwe JS, Kaye JA, Keene CD, Khaleeq A, Kikuchi M, Kim R, Knebl J, Kowall NW, Kramer JH, Kukull WA, LaFerla FM, Lah JJ, Larson EB, Lerner A, Leverenz JB, Levey AI, Lieberman AP, Lipton RB, Logue M, Lopez OL, Lunetta KL, Lyketsos CG, Mains D, Margaret FE, Marson DC, Martin ER, Martiniuk F, Mash DC, Masliah E, Massman P, Masurkar A, McCormick WC, McCurry SM, McDavid AN, McDonough S, McKee AC, Mesulam M, Miller BL, Miller CA, Miller JW, Montine TJ, Monuki ES, Morris JC, Mukherjee S, Myers AJ, Nguyen T, Obisesan T, O'Bryant S, Olichney JM, Ory M, Palmer R, Parisi JE, Paulson HL, Pavlik V, Paydarfar D, Perez V, Peskind E, Petersen RC, Petrovitch H, Pierce A, Polk M, Poon WW, Potter H, Qu L, Quiceno M, Quinn JF, Raj A, Raskind M, Reiman EM, Reisberg B, Reisch JS, Ringman JM, Roberson ED, Rodriguear M, Rogaeva E, Rosen HJ, Rosenberg RN, Royall DR, Sabbagh M, Sadovnick AD, Sager MA, Sano M, Saykin AJ, Schneider JA, Schneider LS, Seeley WW, Slifer SH, Small S, Smith AG, Smith JP, Sonnen JA, Spina S, George-Hyslop PS, Starks TD, Stern RA, Stevens AB, Strittmatter SM, Sultzer D, Swerdlow RH, Tanzi RE, Tilson JL, Trojanowski JQ, Troncoso JC, Tsolaki M, Tsuang DW, Van Deerlin VM, van Eldik LJ, Vance JM, Vardarajan BN, Vassar R, Vinters HV, Vonsattel JP, Weintraub S, Welsh-Bohmer KA, Whitehead PL, Wijsman EM, Wilhelmsen KC, Williams B, Williamson J, Wilms H, Wingo TS, Wisniewski T, Woltjer RL, Woon M, Wright CB, Wu CK, Younkin SG, Yu CE, Yu L, Zhu X, Kunkle BW, Bush WS, Miyashita A, Byrd GS, Wang LS, Farrer LA, Haines JL, Mayeux R, Pericak-Vance MA, Schellenberg GD, Jun GR, Reitz C, Naj AC. Multi-ancestry genome-wide meta-analysis of 56,241 individuals identifies known and novel cross-population and ancestry-specific associations as novel risk loci for Alzheimer's disease. Genome Biol. 2025 Jul 17; 26(1):210. PMID: 40676597.
Published on 6/18/2025Nicolas A, Sherva R, Grenier-Boley B, Kim Y, Kikuchi M, Timsina J, de Rojas I, Dalmasso MC, Zhou X, Le Guen Y, Arboleda-Bustos CE, Camargos Bicalho MA, Guerchet M, van der Lee S, Goss M, Castillo A, Bellenguez C, Küçükali F, Satizabal CL, Fongang B, Yang Q, Peters O, Schneider A, Dichgans M, Rujescu D, Scherbaum N, Deckert J, Riedel-Heller S, Hausner L, Molina-Porcel L, Düzel E, Grimmer T, Wiltfang J, Heilmann-Heimbach S, Moebus S, Tegos T, Scarmeas N, Dols-Icardo O, Moreno F, Pérez-Tur J, Bullido MJ, Pastor P, Sánchez-Valle R, Álvarez V, Cao H, Ip NY, Fu AKY, Ip FCF, Olivar N, Muchnik C, Cuesta C, Campanelli L, Solis P, Politis DG, Kochen S, Brusco LI, Boada M, García-González P, Puerta R, Mir P, Real LM, Piñol-Ripoll G, García-Alberca JM, Royo JL, Rodriguez-Rodriguez E, Soininen H, Heikkinen S, de Mendonça A, Mehrabian S, Traykov L, Hort J, Vyhnalek M, Rasmussen KL, Thomassen JQ, Pijnenburg YAL, Holstege H, van Swieten JC, Seelaar H, Claassen JAHR, Jansen WJ, Ramakers I, Verhey F, van der Lugt A, Scheltens P, Ortega-Rojas J, Concha Mera AG, Mahecha MF, Pardo R, Arboleda G, Bahrami S, Fominykh V, Selbæk G, Graff C, Papenberg G, Giedraitis V, Boland A, Deleuze JF, de Marco LA, de Moraes EN, de Mattos Viana B, Túlio Gualberto Cintra M, Juarez-Cedillo T, Griswold AJ, Forund T, Haines J, Farrer L, DeStefano A, Wijsman E, Mayeux R, Pericak-Vance M, Kunkle B, Goate A, Schellenberg GD, Vardarajan B, Wang LS, Leung YY, Dalgard CL, Nicolas G, Wallon D, Dufouil C, Pasquier F, Hanon O, Debette S, Grünblatt E, Popp J, Angel B, Gloger S, Chacon MV, Aranguiz R, Orellana P, Slachevsky A, Gonzalez-Billault C, Albala C, Fuentes P, Sachdev P, Mather KA, Hauger RL, Merritt V, Panizzon M, Zhang R, Gaziano JM, Ghidoni R, Galimberti D, Arosio B, Mecocci P, Solfrizzi V, Parnetti L, Squassina A, Tremolizzo L, Borroni B, Nacmias B, Caffarra P, Seripa D, Rainero I, Daniele A, Piras F, Leonard HL, Yokoyama JS, Nalls MA, Miyashita A, Hara N, Ozaki K, Niida S, Williams J, Masullo C, Amouyel P, Preux PM, Mbelesso P, Bandzouzi B, Saykin A, Jessen F, Kehoe PG, Van Duijn C, Ben Salem N, Frikke-Schmidt R, Cherni L, Greicius MD, Tsolaki M, Sánchez-Juan P, Romano Silva MA, Porter T, Laws SM, Sleegers K, Ingelsson M, Dartigues JF, Seshadri S, Rossi G, Morelli L, Hiltunen M, Sims R, van der Flier W, Andreassen OA, Arboleda H, Cruchaga C, Escott-Price V, Ruiz A, Lee KH, Ikeuchi T, Ramirez A, Gim J, Logue M, Lambert JC. Transferability of European-derived Alzheimer's disease polygenic risk scores across multiancestry populations. Nat Genet. 2025 Jul; 57(7):1598-1610. PMID: 40533518.
Published on 4/15/2025Han X, Zhang Y, Petrosky JN, Bald S, Sherva RM, Labadorf A, Cherry JD, Chung J, Farrell K, Abdolmohammadi B, Durape S, Martin BM, Palmisano JN, Farrell JJ, Alvarez VE, Huber BR, Dwyer B, Daneshvar DH, Dams-O'Connor K, Jun GR, Lunetta KL, Goldstein LE, Katz DI, Cantu RC, Shenton ME, Cummings JL, Reiman EM, Stern RA, Alosco ML, Tripodis Y, Farrer LA, Stein TD, Crary JF, McKee AC, Mez J. A structural haplotype in the 17q21.31 MAPT region is associated with increased risk for chronic traumatic encephalopathy endophenotypes. Cell Rep Med. 2025 May 20; 6(5):102084. PMID: 40239644.
Published on 3/14/2025Pierce ME, Logue M, Sherva R, Miller M, Huber BR, Milberg W, Hayes JP. Association of Alzheimer's disease genetic risk with age-dependent changes in plasma amyloid-ß42:40 in Veterans. J Alzheimers Dis. 2025 Apr; 104(4):1006-1012. PMID: 40084666.
Published on 2/13/2025Kang M, Ang TFA, Devine SA, Sherva R, Mukherjee S, Trittschuh EH, Gibbons LE, Scollard P, Lee M, Choi SE, Klinedinst B, Nakano C, Dumitrescu LC, Hohman TJ, Cuccaro ML, Saykin AJ, Kukull WA, Bennett DA, Wang LS, Mayeux RP, Haines JL, Pericak-Vance MA, Schellenberg GD, Crane PK, Au R, Lunetta KL, Mez J, Farrer LA. Genome-wide pleiotropy analysis of longitudinal blood pressure and harmonized cognitive performance measures. medRxiv. 2025 Feb 13. PMID: 39990565.
Published on 12/18/2024Merritt VC, Zhang R, Sherva R, Ly MT, Marra D, Panizzon MS, Tsuang DW, Hauger RL, Logue MW. Curation and validation of electronic medical record-based dementia diagnoses in the VA Million Veteran Program. J Alzheimers Dis. 2025 Jan; 103(1):180-193. PMID: 39692476.
Published on 10/1/2024Belloy ME, Le Guen Y, Stewart I, Williams K, Herz J, Sherva R, Zhang R, Merritt V, Panizzon MS, Hauger RL, Gaziano JM, Logue M, Napolioni V, Greicius MD. Role of the X Chromosome in Alzheimer Disease Genetics. JAMA Neurol. 2024 Oct 01; 81(10):1032-1042. PMID: 39250132.
Published on 10/1/2024Kang M, Li C, Mahajan A, Spat-Lemus J, Durape S, Chen J, Gurnani AS, Devine S, Auerbach SH, Ang TFA, Sherva R, Qiu WQ, Lunetta KL, Au R, Farrer LA, Mez J. Subjective Cognitive Decline Plus and Longitudinal Assessment and Risk for Cognitive Impairment. JAMA Psychiatry. 2024 Oct 01; 81(10):993-1002. PMID: 38959008.