Heather M. Ames, MD, PhD

2013: M.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
2013: Ph.D., Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
2015: Residency, Anatomic Pathology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD
2017: Fellowship, Neuropathology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD

I am an early stage investigator and assistant professor who joined the department of Pathology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in May 2018.  I completed a master’s degree in Neuroscience at Brandeis University and completed my graduate education in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Michigan Medical School.  I then pursued residency training in anatomic pathology and neuropathology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. In fellowship and as a junior faculty member I have pursued  research projects investigating the diagnosis and pathogenesis of gliomas as well as collaborative work in multiple areas of neuroscience and neuropathology. In addition to my clinical practice, I currently assist with diagnosis in the University of Maryland NeuroBioBank and study the early development of the field of neuropathology.

Neuroscience, medical history, psychiatry.

Ho CY, Salimian M, Hegert J, O'Brien J, Choi SG, Ames H, Morris M, Papadimitriou JC, Mininni J, Niehaus P, Burke A, Canbeldek L, Jacobs J, LaRocque A, Patel K, Rice K, Li L, Johnson R, LeFevre A, Blanchard T, Shaver CM, Moyer A, Drachenberg C. Postmortem Assessment of Olfactory Tissue Degeneration and Microvasculopathy in Patients With COVID-19. JAMA Neurol. 2022 Jun 1;79(6):544-553.

Miller MB, Huang AY, Kim J, Zhou Z, Kirkham SL, Maury EA, Ziegenfuss JS, Reed HC, Neil JE, Rento L, Ryu SC, Ma CC, Luquette LJ, Ames HM, Oakley DH, Frosch MP, Hyman BT, Lodato MA, Lee EA, Walsh CA. Somatic genomic changes in single Alzheimer's disease neurons. Nature. 2022 Apr;604(7907):714-722.

Spina R, Mills I, Ahmad F, Chen C, Ames HM, Winkles JA, Woodworth GF, Bar EE. DHODH inhibition impedes glioma stem cell proliferation, induces DNA damage, and prolongs survival in orthotopic glioblastoma xenografts. Oncogene. 2022 Dec;41(50):5361-5372.

Schreck KC, Ranjan S, Skorupan N, Bettegowda C, Eberhart CG, Ames HM**, Holdhoff, M**. Incidence and clinicopathologic features of H3 K27M mutations in adults with radiographically-determined midline gliomas. J Neurooncol. 2019 May;143(1):87-93. (**equal contribution)

Mair DB, Ames HM, Li R. Mechanisms of Invasion and Motility of High-Grade Gliomas in the Brain. 2018. Mol Bio Cell. 29 (21), 2509-2515.

Ames HM, Rooper LM, Laterra JJ, Eberhart CG, Rodriguez FJ. 2018. INSM1 expression is frequent in primary central nervous system neoplasms but not in the adult brain parenchyma. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 77: 374-382.

Ames HM, Halushka M, Rodriguez FJ. 2017. miRNA regulation in gliomas: Usual suspects in glial tumorigenesis and evolving clinical applications. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 76: 246-254.