Katherine E. McDonell, MD
Dr. Katherine McDonell is an Assistant Professor of Neurology and a board-certified neurologist specializing in neurodegenerative disorders. Clinically, Dr. McDonell sees patients with cognitive and movement disorders including Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, Parkinson disease, and Huntington disease. She is a core faculty member of the Vanderbilt Level 1 Center of Excellence for Huntington disease and directs the predictive genetic testing program for Huntington Disease at Vanderbilt.
She received her undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis, graduating with honors in biology and philosophy-neuroscience-psychology. She earned her medical degree at Northwestern University and completed her residency training in neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA. She subsequently completed a fellowship in cognitive neurology and a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation at Vanderbilt.
Research Information
Dr. McDonell is interested in how neurodegenerative disorders affect cognition and behavior. Her current research focuses on characterizing early cognitive and behavioral changes in patients with Huntington disease using cognitive neuroscience tasks and electrophysiology. She is the recipient of an NINDS K23 award investigating inhibitory control and externalizing behaviors as potential early markers of disease in youth at risk for Huntington disease. Dr. McDonell is also involved in several clinical trials investigating new treatments for Huntington disease.
To learn more about her research, please visit the Cognition and Movement lab page.