Jeffrey McDonald

Jeffrey McDonald is an Assistant Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center's Department of Molecular Genetics, affiliated with the Center for Human Nutrition. His research focuses on lipid biology, particularly sterol and oxysterol metabolism using advanced mass spectrometry techniques. He developed novel methods for lipidomic profiling and contributed to understanding lipid roles in disease mechanisms, including cancer, neurodegeneration, and metabolic disorders. His lab serves as a global resource for sterol analysis and has pioneered high-throughput lipidomic approaches. Key contributions include identifying oxysterol regulation of immune responses and cholesterol's role in cell signaling pathways. Educational background includes a B.S. in Chemistry from Fort Lewis College (1996), Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Indiana University (2002), postdoctoral training at the FBI (2002-2004), and faculty appointment at UTSW since 2004.

Research interests span lipidomics, cholesterol biosynthesis regulation, and translational applications of lipid analysis. His work bridges analytical chemistry with biomedical research, addressing challenges in lipid measurement and data interpretation. Ongoing efforts focus on integrating lipidomic data with clinical outcomes and developing software tools for complex datasets.