Katie McDonald
Katherine McDonald, professor of public health and senior associate dean for research and administration in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, will join Syracuse University’s Office of Research in a new role as associate vice president for research, effective July 1. The announcement was made today by Vice President for Research Duncan Brown.
In this new role, McDonald will focus on supporting faculty research, improving faculty mentoring, growing extramural research and identifying strategic opportunities for research growth in areas aligned with the University’s mission and vision.
“Katie has the right combination of research and leadership experience to make a real impact in the Office of Research,” Brown says. “I look forward to working with her to help create and sustain an environment that promotes scholarship and, in partnership with the faculty, to expand and strengthen the research and creative enterprise at Syracuse University.”
McDonald is a widely-published researcher who uses socioecological theory and community-engaged research to understand and promote the inclusion of individuals with disabilities. Her current research focuses on ethical, legal and social implications in research with adults with developmental disabilities, and using community-engaged research to study and address disparities experienced by people with disabilities.
“I am delighted to begin a new role at Syracuse University,” McDonald says. “I am grateful for the nurturing environment Syracuse has provided for my own research, and for the opportunities I have to pay forward that support. The generation of new knowledge that has the potential to positively impact society is a cornerstone function of Syracuse University, and I look forward to working in partnership on this shared endeavor.”
McDonald joined the Syracuse faculty as an assistant professor in 2011 and previously served as public health department chair. She is a faculty fellow at the Aging Studies Institute, the Burton Blatt Institute, the Consortium for Culture and Medicine and in disability studies, and a research affiliate at the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health. She is also a fellow of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and a member of the editorial board for Autism in Adulthood.
McDonald has served as chair of Syracuse University’s Institutional Review Board since 2016. Andrew London, professor of sociology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, will assume the role July 1.
