Ann McKee

Professor, Neurology & Pathology, Alzheimer''s Disease Center at Boston University

Schools

  • Boston University

Links

Biography

Boston University

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 Boston University 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.

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Cases

Seahawks live with pain, worries of brain damage

November 9, 2017

KING 5 TV Ann McKee Scores of former Seattle Seahawks football players say they are concerned that their brains might have been injured as a result of their playing careers… View full article

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Tom Brady turns 40: What are athletes doing to excel late in their careers?

August 3, 2017

USA Today mentioning Ann McKee, School of Medicine “Tom Brady turns 40 on Thursday, although his diet devoid of sugars, dairy and white flour could make the New England Patriot quarterback’s birthday cake different from most who celebrate the big four-oh…” Expert mention: “Ann McKee, director of Boston University’s CTE Center and one of the […]

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A Football Coach’s Struggle With C.T.E. — and a Guilty Conscience

May 26, 2017

New York Times quoting Ann McKee, School of Medicine “In the last years of his life, the longtime football coach for dominating college teams wrestled with impaired speech, forgetfulness, lapses in concentration…” Expert quote: “It is likely that he had C.T.E. originally and that it may have contributed to the early onset of Parkinson’s.” View […]

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Just why is football ignoring all the evidence linking head injuries with CTE and dementia?

February 22, 2017

Daily Mail Ann McKee, School of Medicine Two years ago, FA chairman Greg Dyke apologised to Jeff Astle’s family after The Mail on Sunday exposed the football authorities’ failure to deliver life-saving research into a possible link between head injuries and dementia… Expert quote: “‘There is an obfuscation of the facts,’ said Boston University Professor […]

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CTE Could Become A Problem For Soccer, Study Finds

February 22, 2017

CBS Las Vegas Ann McKee, School of Medicine Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, more commonly referred to as CTE, is a disastrous brain disease that is currently plaguing the National Football League, but a study shows that soccer is not impervious to CTE… Expert quote: ““I think it points out again that this is an equal-opportunity disease,” said Dr. Ann […]

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Top CTE researcher Ann McKee: Too painful to watch football

February 2, 2017

USA Today Ann McKee, School of Medicine Theories behind the NFL’s ratings decline don’t usually include teary-eyed explanations… Expert quote: “I won’t,” McKee, the director of the Boston University‘s CTE Center, explained on Facebook Live. “I didn’t watch any football this year. I just can’t do it anymore.” View full article.

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NFL’s dark side: Haunted by husband’s death, widow takes CTE fight to Super Bowl

January 31, 2017

The Sacramento Bee Ann McKee, School of Medicine On May 3, 2012, Junior Seau, a star linebacker with the San Diego Chargers for 20 seasons, shot himself in the chest and died… Expert Quote: “I really do believe that if these individuals could see what was happening to them at the end of their lives, […]

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Leading CTE Expert Speaks Out

January 12, 2017

Huffington Post Ann McKee, School of Medicine Ann McKee, M.D., is a neuropathologist who specializes in neurodegenerative disease, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), at Boston University School of Medicine…. Expert quote: “Well, I started out as a neurologist.” View full article

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Research Traces Link Between Combat Blasts and PTSD

June 10, 2016

New York Times (subscription required) Ann McKee, School of Medicine They are among war’s invisible wounds: the emotional and cognitive problems that many troops experience years after combat explosions sent huge shock waves through their brains… Expert quote: “We have to be very certain — it’s about not jumping the gun, not jumping to conclusions […]

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On C.T.E. and Athletes, Science Remains in Its Infancy

March 28, 2016

New York Times (subscription required) Ann McKee, School of Medicine Robert Stern, School of Medicine In a small room banked by refrigerators of preserved brains, a pathologist held a specimen up to the light in frank admiration… View full article quoting experts Ann McKee and Robert Stern  

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