Thor Stein

Background

Dr. Stein is Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Leader of the Neuropathology Core at the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. He is also staff neuropathologist at VA Boston and VA Bedford Healthcare Systems. He completed his MD/PhD training at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison and his residency and fellowship training in neuropathology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Research Interests

His research focuses on neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). He investigates the molecular and pathological underpinnings of these conditions, particularly how trauma contributes to their onset and progression. He has published extensively on the development and modeling of age- and trauma-related neuropathologies. Some of these studies include the most comprehensive analysis to date on beta-amyloid deposition, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, Lewy body disease, and TDP-43 pathology following repetitive mild traumatic brain injury. He works on the epigenetic and gene network mechanisms involved in the development of neuropathology. Dr. Stein is the Principal Investigator on numerous grants, including VA Merit Awards on the role of traumatic brain injury in the development of AD, ALS, and CTE as well as multiple NIH R01s focused on determining the link between epigenetic modifications, lipidomic profiles, and pathological changes in the brain as they relate to cognitive decline.

ADRC Role

Dr. Stein leads the Neuropathology Core at the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research and CTE Center, where he oversees neuropathological analyses and diagnoses. He manages the processing, preservation, and storage of brain tissue for research studies worldwide. He is also a neuropathologist for numerous other brain banks, including Framingham Heart Study, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) National ALS Biorepository, as well as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ALS, Gulf War Veterans Illnesses, and PTSD biorepositories.

Awards and Memberships

Dr. Stein has won multiple awards, including the American Association of Neuropathologists Moore Award, Asao Hirano Award, and the Spivak Neuroscience Award. He is a member of the American Association of Neuropathologists and the College of American Pathologists. He is an editorial board member of the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology. Dr. Stein has been an invited speaker at numerous national and international conferences, presenting his work to leading experts in the field.

Recent Selected Publications

1. 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 Jul 15:e242166. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2024.2166. Online ahead of print. PMID: 39008284
2. Panitch R, Sahelijo N, Hu J, Nho K, Bennett DA, Lunetta KL, Au R, Stein TD, Farrer LA, Jun GR. APOE genotype-specific methylation patterns are linked to Alzheimer disease pathology and estrogen response. Transl Psychiatry. 2024 Feb 29;14(1):129. doi: 10.1038/s41398-024-02834-x. PMID: 38424036
3. Saltiel N, Tripodis Y, Menzin T, Olaniyan A, Baucom Z, Yhang E, Palmisano JN, Martin B, Uretsky M, Nair E, Abdolmohammadi B, Shah A, Nicks R, Nowinski C, Cantu RC, Daneshvar DH, Dwyer B, Katz DI, Stern RA, Alvarez VE, Huber B, Boyle PA, Schneider JA, Mez J, McKee AC, Alosco ML, Stein TD. Relative Contributions of Mixed Pathologies to Cognitive and Functional Symptoms in Brain Donors Exposed to Repetitive Head Impacts. Ann Neurol. 2024 Feb;95(2):314-324; Epub 2023 Nov 3. doi: 10.1002/ana.26823. PMID: 37921042
4. Nicks R, Clement NF, Alvarez VE, Tripodis Y, Baucom ZH, Huber BR, Mez J, Alosco ML, Aytan N, Cherry JD, Cormier KA, Kubilius C, Mathias R, Svirsky SE, Pothast MJ, Hildebrandt AM, Chung J, Han X, Crary JF, McKee AC, Frosch MP, Stein TD. Repetitive head impacts and chronic traumatic encephalopathy are associated with TDP-43 inclusions and hippocampal sclerosis. Acta Neuropathol. 2023 Jan 21. doi: 10.1007/s00401-023-02539-3. Online ahead of print. PMID: 36681782
5. Blusztajn JK, Aytan N, Rajendiran T, Mellott TJ, Soni T, Burant CF, Serrano GE, Beach TG, Lin H, Stein TD. Cerebral Gray and White Matter Monogalactosyl Diglyceride Levels Rise with the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease. J Alzheimers Dis. 2023;95(4):1623-1634. doi: 10.3233/JAD-230543. PMID: 37718815
6. Montoliu-Gaya L, Alosco ML, Yhang E, Tripodis Y, Sconzo D, Ally M, Grötschel L, Ashton NJ, Lantero-Rodriguez J, Sauer M, Gomes B, Nilsson J, Brinkmalm G, Sugarman MA, Aparicio HJ, Martin B, Palmisano JN, Steinberg EG, Simkin I, Turk KW, Budson AE, Au R, Farrer L, Jun GR, Kowall NW, Stern RA, Goldstein LE, Qiu WQ, Mez J, Huber BR, Alvarez VE, McKee AC, Zetterberg H, Gobom J, Stein TD, Blennow K. Optimal blood tau species for the detection of Alzheimer’s disease neuropathology: an immunoprecipitation mass spectrometry and autopsy study. Acta Neuropathol. 2023 Dec 30;147(1):5. doi: 10.1007/s00401-023-02660-3. PMID: 38159140
7. O’Neill NK, Stein TD, Hu J, Rehman H, Campbell JD, Yajima M, Zhang X, Farrer LA. Bulk brain tissue cell-type deconvolution with bias correction for single-nuclei RNA sequencing data using DeTREM. BMC Bioinformatics. 2023 Sep 19;24(1):349. doi: 10.1186/s12859-023-05476-w. PMID: 37726653
8. Jun GR, You Y, Zhu C, Meng G, Chung J, Panitch R, Hu J, Xia W; Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium, Bennett DA, Foroud TM, Wang LS, Haines JL, Mayeux R, Pericak-Vance MA, Schellenberg GD, Au R, Lunetta KL, Ikezu T, Stein TD, Farrer LA. Protein phosphatase 2A and complement component 4 are linked to the protective effect of APOE ɛ2 for Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimers Dement. 2022 Feb 9. doi: 10.1002/alz.12607. PMID: 35142023
9. Stathas S, Alvarez VE, Xia W, Nicks R, Meng G, Daley S, Pothast M, Shah A, Kelley H, Esnault C, McCormack R, Dixon E, Fishbein L, Cherry JD, Huber BR, Tripodis Y, Alosco ML, Mez J, McKee AC, Stein TD. Tau phosphorylation sites serine202 and serine396 are differently altered in chronic traumatic encephalopathy and Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s Dementia. 2021. PMID: 34854540
10. Adams JW, Alosco ML, Mez J, Alvarez VE, Huber BR, Tripodis Y, Adler CH, Kubilius C, Cormier KA, Mathais R, Nicks R, Kelley HJ, Saltiel N, Uretsky M, Nair E, Aytan N, Cherry JD, Nowinski CJ, Kowall NW, Goldstein LE, Dwyer B, Katz DI, Cantu RC, Stern RA, McKee AC, Stein TD. Association of probable REM sleep behavior disorder with pathology and years of contact sports play in chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Acta Neuropathol. 2020 Dec;140(6):851-862. doi: 10.1007/s00401-020-02206-x. PMID: 32939646