Dr. McNally is the Director for the Center for Genetic Medicine at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine. She received a B.A. in Philosophy and Biology at Barnard College and M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. McNally trained in Internal Medicine and then Cardiovascular Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and completed postdoctoral training in Genetics at Children’s Hospital/Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Boston. Dr. McNally studies inherited disorders that affect cardiac and skeletal muscle function. Her efforts have elucidated membrane-associated defects that disturb cellular integrity and repair mechanisms leading to the identification of therapeutic targets. Dr. McNally directs the Cardiovascular Genetics Program Northwestern where she is now developing strategies for implementing genetic information into medical practice. Dr. McNally was named a Charles E. Culpeper Medical Scholar and an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association. She has also been recognized for her translational work by the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation and as a recipient a Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. She is a past president of ASCI and president of AAP.