Resume
Education
- Dissertation title: Cerebral Cavernous Malformations – From Two-Hit Mechanism to Developing a Targeted Therapy. Advisor: Dr. Douglas A. Marchuk
- Certificate in College Teaching
- Certificate in Cell & Molecular Biology
- Thesis title: Effects of Chemical Diabetes, Starvation, and Endocrine Hormones on Blood and Organ Carnitine Concentrations in Rats. Advisor: Dr. Peggy R. Borum
- Summa cum laude
Counseling & Education Experience
- Managing a team of four (three direct reports) to provide career services to Master’s and Doctoral students from humanities, social science, and STEM disciplines
- Created an assessment strategic plan for the Career Center to create a culture of evidence-based decision-making
- Developing and maintaining relationships with on-campus stakeholders to meet the needs of graduate students
- Advocated for and led the formation of a Diversity Committee, focusing initially on creating an open and accepting staff culture and developing strategic relationships with offices and identity centers across campus
- Spearheading the transition to a new technology platform through coordinating with stakeholders, managing multiple timelines, and organizing training sessions
- Overseeing the formation of a Diversity Committee
- o Leading a shift in graduate student career education through needs assessment (interviews with faculty and students, organizing design charrettes with stakeholders) and the creation of the Duke Grad Milestones for integration into graduate program curricula
- Reviewed the Duke Sanford School’s career services model as part of a collaborative committee, contributing to benchmarking with peer public policy schools and soliciting student feedback
- Published career-related articles on Inside Higher Ed with posts exceeding 6,500 page views
- Provide career counseling to more than 3,000 graduate students in over 70 master's and PhD programs
- Leading the Career Center in the development and implementation of assessment projects, fostering a culture of assessment and using data to inform decision-making
- Training Career Center staff in educational best practices, developing sustained interest in improving how learning outcomes are created and assessed
- Heading committees to hire Career Center staff and ensure that facilities and resources are attuned to the needs of students with disabilities
- Hired and supervised an intern to research career outcomes of Master’s students
- Spearheading a team to develop workshop curricula incorporating novel opportunities for graduate students
- Creating rapport with faculty to encourage cultural change in the perception of graduate students pursuing non-academic careers
- Coordinating event series and online resources with The Graduate School and the Office of Postdoctoral Services
- Building and sustaining relationships with on-campus partners to serve graduate student career needs particular to each degree program
- Fostering connections between students, alumni, and professionals from various industries
- Developing new resources and programs to guide students through exploring possible career paths and conducting successful job and internship searches
- Publishing career-related articles on Inside Higher Ed
- Analyze quantitative and qualitative survey data on medical education
- Directed the formation of the university’s first postdoctoral association by interfacing with university administration and coordinating with postdoctoral fellows across campus
- Invited professionals to speak to postdocs on career paths in and outside of academia
Teaching Experience
- Restructured introductory biology labs with curricula based on authentic research experiences
- Worked to increase student retention and graduation rates
- Taught laboratory sections of
- General Biology I (BIOL 1201, organismal biology and evolution) – Fall 2013
- General Biology II (BIOL 1202, macromolecules and cell structure, see syllabus) – Fall 2013-Fall 2014
- General Biology III (BIOL 2200, molecular biology of cells) – Spring 2014-Fall 2014
- Gave a guest lecture for the undergraduate course Human Anatomy and Physiology (BIOL 1620)
- Lectured on nutrition and metabolism to nursing students
- Designed and implemented a writing project for the undergraduate course Cancer Biology (BIOL 4350)
- Created an assignment for students to design their own experiment to study cancer biology and genetics - see assignment details
- Guided students through multiple rounds of outlining and revisions
- Enriched the online course through individualized attention and constructive feedback
- Gave a guest lecture for the undergraduate course Genetics (BIOL 3100)
- Led a case study using active learning techniques to teach students about clinical genetics - see case study details
- Taught the course “DNA: Unlocking the Genetic Code” - see teaching evaluations
- Developed an original curriculum on genetics and evolution for gifted middle school students
- Utilized active learning, team-based learning, and project-based learning techniques
- Gave a guest lecture for the graduate course Writing Grant Proposals (UPGEN 306)
- Led a discussion on writing Specific Aims pages
- Taught one lab section of Genetics & Evolution (BIO 102L) - see learning objectives, course schedule, and teaching evaluations
- Led students through weekly labs in genetics, evolution, and bioinformatics using multiple animal model organisms and in silico genetic analysis
- Helped introduce active learning methods for the pilot semester of this new course
- Held weekly office hours to assist students with assignments, exam preparation, and discussion of topics from lecture and lab
- Assisted students in two sections of Honors General Chemistry Lab (CHM 2047L) - see syllabus
- Reinforced concepts of spectrometry, absorption, and electrochemistry
- Guided students through performing labs, processing and analyzing data, and drawing relevant conclusions
- Assisted in two high school general chemistry classes
- Tutored students in concepts of physical & chemical properties, measurement and graphing
- Facilitated laboratory exercises
Research Experience
- Compared custom gene expression array data with patient demographics and clinical information
- Analyzed gene transcript variant sequences for putative functional domains
- Established mouse models of the human disease cerebral cavernous malformations (CCM)
- Examined the centrality of the RhoA signaling pathway in CCM disease progression
- Tested novel therapeutic strategies for CCM using our animal models
- Developed conditional knockout and transgenic mice
- Analyzed human and mouse CCM lesions for somatic mutations by next-generation sequencing
- The InvestiGators is an undergraduate research organization based in the lab of Dr. Peggy R. Borum in the Food Science & Human Nutrition Department
- Investigated the effects of diabetes and sex steroid hormones on tissue carnitine concentrations in rats
- Assisted in experiments on a neonatal piglet model of the Ketogenic Diet for epilepsy
- Acted as a liason between the organization and Student Government, the Student Activities Committee, and the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
- Bioinformatics analysis of gene expression, protein function and localization, and next-generation sequence data
- Analysis of survey and clinical datasets
- Programming using the R coding language
- Multivariate statistical analysis
- Protein detection by western blotting and immunoprecipitation
- Immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry
- Culturing of human and mouse cell lines
- Gene cloning and PCR
- Sanger sequencing and fragment analysis
- Creation and use of knockout and transgenic mouse models
Mentoring
- Project: Mutation Analysis of Patients with Sturge-Weber Syndrome and Port-Wine Stains
- Currently a graduate student at Duke University
- Project: Next-Generation Sequencing Analysis of Sporadic Cerebral Cavernous Malformations Patients
- Currently applying to veterinary school
- Project: The Two-Hit Mutation Mechanism in a Mouse Model of Cerebral Cavernous Malformations
- Currently a medical student at Duke University
- Thesis title: Loss of Heterozygosity in a Somatic Mosaic Cerebral Cavernous Malformation Patient
- Currently a medical resident at Duke University
Honors & Awards
Jhumki Basu Equity Scholars Award, International Conference of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, March 2014
Postdoctoral Travel Award, International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, October 2013
Third Place, National Science Foundation Innovation in Graduate Education Challenge, June 2013 - see Proposal and News Article
Predoctoral Travel Award, Angioma Alliance, Pathobiology of CCM Scientific Workshop, November 2012
National Research Service Award, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, #F31NS077702, December 2011-May 2013 - see Specific Aims and Proposal
Predoctoral Fellowship, American Heart Association, #11PRE7360003, July 2011-December 2011 - see Proposal
Predoctoral Travel Award, Angioma Alliance, Pathobiology of CCM Scientific Workshop, November 2010
James B. Duke Fellowship, Duke University, March 2008
University Scholars Program, University of Florida, April 2006– May 2008
Publications
Bennet CL, McDonald DA, Finch A, Rennie S, Morse JE. North Carolina medical student views on abortion. NC Med J 2018; 79(1): 14-9. Download
Bennett CL, McDonald DA, Dorner SC, Nadel ES, McDonald FS, McPherson JA. Association of the 2003 and 2011 ACGME resident duty hour reforms with internal medicine initial certification exam performance. J Grad Med Educ 2017; 9(6): 789-90. Download
Bennett CL, McDonald DA, Chang Y, Finch A, Vuong K, Rennie S, Nadel ES. A national cross-sectional study of surgery residents who underreport duty hours. J Surg Edu 2017; 74(6): 928-33. Download
McDonald DA. PhD supervisors: invest more time. Nature 2017; 545(7653): 158. Download
Reaves DK, Hoadley KA, Fagan-Solis KD, Jima DD, Bereman M, Thorpe L, Hicks J, McDonald D, Troester MA, Perou CM, Fleming JM. Nuclear localized LSR: a novel regulator of breast cancer behavior and tumorigenesis. Molecular Cancer Res 2017; 15(2): 165-78. Download
Shenkar R, Shi C, Austin C, Moore T, Lightle R, Cao Y, Zhang L, Wu M, Zeineddine HA, Girard R, McDonald DA, Rorrer A, Gallione C, Pytel P, Liao JK, Marchuk DA, Awad IA. RhoA kinase inhibition with fasudil versus simvastatin in murine models of cerebral cavernous malformations. Stroke 2017; 48(1): 187-94. Download
Bennett CL, Finch A, Vuong K, McDonald DA, Rennie S. Underreporting of duty hours – a national survey of general surgery residents. New England Journal of Medicine 2016; 374: 2399-403. Download
McDonald DA. Tips for talking about other options. Inside Higher Ed 2016.
McDonald DA, Marchuk DA. The Roles of KRIT1, Malcavernin (CCM2), and PDCD10 in the Pathogenesis of Cerebral Cavernous Malformations. Epstein’s Inborn Errors of Development, 3rd Edition. Erickson B, Wynshaw-Boris T, eds. 2016.
McDonald DA, Council SE, Schroeder SC, Utile S, Phillips RS, Hollowell GP, Key SCS. Identifying promoter activators and repressors using lacZ transgene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Association for Biology Laboratory Education 2015; 37. Download
Shenkar R, Shi C, Rebeiz T, Stockton R, McDonald DA, Mikati A, Zhang L, Austin C, Akers AL, Gallione CJ, Rorrer A, Gunel M, Min W, Marcondes J, Lee C, Marchuk DA, Awad IA. Exceptional aggressiveness of cerebral cavernous malformation disease associated with PDCD10 mutations. Genetics in Medicine 2015; 17(3); 188-96. Download
McDonald DA, Shi C, Shenkar R, Gallione CJ, Akers AL, Li S, de Castro N, Berg MJ, Corcoran DL, Awad IA, Marchuk DA. Lesions from sporadic cases of cerebral cavernous malformations harbor somatic mutations in the CCM genes: Evidence for a common biochemical pathway for CCM pathogenesis. Human Molecular Genetics 2014; 23(16): 4357-70. Download
McDonald DA, Shi C, Shenkar R, Stockton RA, Liu F, Ginsberg MH, Marchuk DA, Awad IA. Fasudil decreases lesion burden in a murine model of cerebral cavernous malformation disease. Stroke 2012;43(2):571-4. Download
McDonald DA, Shenkar R, Shi C, Stockton RA, Akers AL, Kucherlapati MH, Kucherlapati R, Brainer J, Ginsberg MH, Awad IA, Marchuk DA. A novel mouse model of cerebral cavernous malformations based on the two-hit hypothesis recapitulates the human disease. Hum Molec Genet 2011;20(2): 211-22. Download
Jones LL, McDonald DA, Borum PR. Acylcarnitines: role in brain. Prog Lipid Res 2010;49(1):61-75. Download
Quoted & Featured
June AW. The Many Paths of the Would-Be Professoriate. Chronicle of Higher Education 2017.
Keeley D. Alumni Profiles Series: Dave McDonald. Duke Graduate School Professional Development Blog 2017.
Roth B. 3 Steps to Reach Your Professional Potential. Working@Duke 2017.
Gibbs KD. Analysis of NIGMS Request for Information on Strategies for Modernizing Biomedical Graduate Education, quoted on pg. 4 under “Curriculum and classroom teaching…” NIGMS Feedback Loop Blog 2016.
What Else Can I Do With My PhD? Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute 2016.
Presentations
McDonald DA. Assessment for beginners. Oral presentation, OneDuke Conference, May 2017.
Council SE, Grillo WH, Key SCS, Royal MO, McDonald DA, Phillips RS, Hollowell GP, White SL. Development and infusion of course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) into introductory core courses of a biology curriculum. American Society for Microbiology Conference for Undergraduate Educators, May 2015. Abstract
Shenkar R, Shi C, McDonald DA, Austin C, Rorrer A, Gallione CJ, Zhang L, Marchuk DA, Awad IA. A comparison between fasudil and simvastatin treatment in two murine models with cerebral cavernous malformation. Poster, International Stroke Conference, February 2015.
Hollowell GP, Grillo WH, Key SCS, Phillips RS, Royal MO, Council SE, McDonald DA, White SL. Improving student retention: course based undergraduate research experiences for biology majors. Poster, Association of American Colleges and Universities. Diversity, Learning, and Student Success Meeting, March 2014. Download
Grillo WH, Hollowell GP, Key SCS, Phillips RS, Royal MO, Council SE, McDonald DA, White SL. Development and infusion of course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) into introductory core courses of a biology curriculum. Poster, CUREnet Meeting, March 2014.
Gamble D*, Gallione CJ, McDonald DA, North P, Marchuk DA. Somatic mutations leading to vascular anomalies: is the GNAQ somatic mutation the link? Poster, Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, November 2013.
McDonald DA, Shenkar R, Shi C, Awad IA, Marchuk DA. Exploring the implications of a two-hit mechanism in cerebral cavernous malformations. Oral presentation, Pathobiology of CCM Scientific Workshop, November 2012.
McDonald DA, Shi C, Shenkar R, Stockton RA, Liu F, Ginsberg MH, Marchuk DA, Awad IA. Fasudil decreases lesion burden in a murine model of cerebral cavernous malformation disease. Oral presentation, Pathobiology of CCM Scientific Workshop, November 2011.
McDonald DA, Shenkar R, Shi C, Akers AL, Stockton RA, Kucherlapati M, Kucherlapati R, Ginsberg MH, Awad IA, Marchuk DA. A second-generation mouse model to study cerebral cavernous malformations lesion development. Poster, American Society for Human Genetics. Annual Meeting, November 2010. Download
McDonald DA, Shenkar R, Shi C, Akers AL, Stockton RA, Kucherlapati M, Kucherlapati R, Ginsberg MH, Awad IA, Marchuk DA. A second-generation mouse model to study cerebral cavernous malformations lesion development. Angioma Alliance. Oral presentation, Pathobiology of CCM Scientific Workshop, November 2010.
McDonald DA, Akers AL, Kucherlapati R, Kucherlapati M, Shenkar R, Shi C, Awad IA, Marchuk DA. A second-generation mouse model of cerebral cavernous malformation pathogenesis. North American Vascular Biology Organization. Poster, Genetics and Genomics of Vascular Disease Workshop, September 2009. Download
McDonald DA, Borum PR. Sex steroid hormones affect carnitine concentrations of blood and organs in rats. Poster, Experimental Biology, April 2008. Download
McDonald DA, Borum PR. Effects of chemical diabetes and starvation on blood and organ carnitine concentrations in rats. Poster, Experimental Biology, April 2007. Download
Service
Moderator, Panels on Queer Representation in Pop Culture, NC Comicon, November 2018-Present
Student Affairs Assessment Task Force, Duke University, September 2016-Present
Member, Graduate Student Affairs Advisory Committee, September 2016-Present
Reviewer, HHMI Biointeractive, August 2014-January 2015
Reviewer, European Journal of Human Genetics, June 2014
Founding Member, North Carolina Central University Postdoc Association, December 2013-January 2015
Duke Reader Project, Duke University, August 2013-June 2015
Instructor, North Carolina DNA Day, April 2013
Science Fair Judge, North Carolina Student Academy of Science, March 2013
Scholar, Duke Scholars in Cardiovascular Medicine, August 2012-May 2013
Reviewer, Syllabus Journal, July 2012-May 2013
Preparing Future Faculty Program, Duke University, August 2011–July 2012
Memberships
Member, Graduate Career Consortium, March 2015-Present
Member, National Association of Colleges and Employers, March 2015-Present
Member, National Association for Research in Science Teaching, December 2013 – Present
Professional Development
Leadership Institute, North Carolina Association of Colleges and Employers, UNC-Chapel Hill, March 2019
Trans & Asexual Training, Duke Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity, October 2018
National Conference, Graduate Career Consortium, June 2017
Assessment Conference, North Carolina Independent Colleges & Universities, June 2017
Career Development for Biomedical Scientists, National Institutes of Health, July 2016
Intercultural Skills Development Program, Duke International House, May 2016
National Conference, National Association of Colleges and Employers, June 2015
