Chief, Clinical Parasitology Unit
Associate Research Physician
Specialty(s): Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine Provides direct clinical care to patients at NIH Clinical Center
Education:
M.D., Loyola University Chicago
Biography
Dr. O’Connell received her medical degree from Loyola University of Chicago. She is a board-certified physician in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases and completed residency at Indiana University and fellowship at the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID/NIH). Following her clinical year of fellowship, she began working under the mentorship of Dr. Thomas Nutman in the Helminth Immunology Section of the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, NIAID on molecular diagnostics for soil-transmitted helminths and drug repurposing for filarial infections. In 2017, she began focusing on diagnostics in neurocysticercosis as an Assistant Clinical Investigator in NIAID’s Transition Program for Clinical Research. In 2020, she became Principal Investigator on a natural history treatment protocol for neurocysticercosis at the NIH Clinical Center, where patient referrals from all over the United States are seen, including particularly challenging cases. In 2022, she became head of the Clinical Parasitology Unit.