Dr. McDonald is a pediatric nurse scientist building a focused program of research aimed at promoting health and reducing injury in youth.
Dr. McDonald is a Senior Fellow with the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at and a fellow with the American Academy of Nursing. Her research is aimed at promoting health and reducing injury in youth.
Specifically, Dr. McDonald has focused her research on the complex interplay of factors contribuing to adolescent morbidity and mortality associated with different types of intentional and unintentional injury (e.g. violence and vehicular crashes). Her research on teens and risky driving behaviors is funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) at the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. McDonald has received several awards for her research, including the Alumni Emerging Scholar Award from the Villanova University School of Nursing and the Rising Star Research Award from the Eastern Nursing Research Society.
BSN, Villanova University (Nursing), 2000
MSN, Monmouth University (School Nursing), 2006
PhD, University of Pennsylvania (Nursing Science), 2010
Nurse Researcher
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Assistant Professor of Nursing in Pediatrics
National Association of School Nurses, 2004-
Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, 2005-
Pennsylvania State School Nurses Association, 2006-
American Public Health Association, 2008-
Eastern Nursing Research Society, 2008-
Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science, 2009-
Society for the Advancement of Violence and Injury Research, 2010-
Transportation Research Board, 2012-
Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine, 2015-
American Nurses Association, 2016-
Rising Star Research Award, Eastern Nursing Research Society, 2015
Emerging Scholar Award, Villanova University Nursing Alumni Award, 2016
Induction as Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, 2017