Katherine E. McDonald, Ph.D.
BiographyKatherine (Katie) McDonald received her B.S. with Distinction in Human Development and Family Studies with a minor in French from Cornell University and her Ph.D. in Community and Prevention Research Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Since 1997, Dr. McDonald's work, research and service have centered on using ecological theory and social action to understand and promote the community integration of individuals with disabilities. More recently, her research interests have expanded to include the empirical study of human research ethics, with an emphasis on issues related to vulnerable groups (e.g., individuals with intellectual disabilities). Dr. McDonald is also involved in the teaching and practice of program evaluation and previously lived in community with individuals with and without intellectual disabilities in a community of L'Arche in Switzerland. Examples of Dr. McDonald's recent work includes the development of a measure of attitudes towards the research participation of adults with intellectual disabilities (i.e., The Participation in Research Attitude Scale) and a study of how those in positions of power (i.e., researchers and IRB members) make determination about other's access to research participation. She also conducted a qualitative study of the community college experiences of low-income ethnic minority students with learning disabilities. In addition, she identified cultural narratives related to learning disability, race/ethnicity and gender and individual acts of resistance to oppressive narratives engaged in by these young adults. Furthermore, she has examined the interplay between a sense of community and empowerment in relationships among adults with and without intellectual disabilities and conducted a literature review of mentoring programs for youth with disabilities. Dr. McDonald's current research includes a study of extant recommendations for the inclusion of adults with intellectual disabilities in research and the scientific communities' perspective on these guidelines for best practice. In addition, in a project funded by the National Institute for Disability & Rehabilitation Research, she is working with area agencies to build their capacity for program evaluation (http://www.uic.edu/orgs/empower/Center%20web%20page/ccbmdr.htm) and is, in conjunction with colleagues at DePaul University, conducting a participatory action research project that involves a partnership between city government, business, and university researchers to address unemployment among individuals with disabilities. Dr. McDonald has recently joined an interdisciplinary team of autistic adults and academic researchers to engage in community-based participatory research aimed at conducting research relevant to the needs of autistic adults (http://aaspireproject.org/index.html). With a group of doctoral students in Applied Psychology at PSU and a researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Dr. McDonald is also conducting research on the teaching of program evaluation (http://eval.org ). Dr. McDonald is the Chair of the Disability Action Group for the Society for Community Research and Action, division 27 of the American Psychological Association (://www.scra27.org ) and a member of the Board of Directors at L'Arche Nahalem ( http://larche-portland.org ).
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