Kathryn Alicia McFadden, MD
Assistant Professor of Pathology

Dr. McFadden is a member of the Division of Neuropathology.

Office Location:
UPMC Presbyterian
M8715 South Tower
200 Lothrop Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
 Contact Information:
Office Telephone: 412-647-7127
Lab Telephone: 412-383-7826
Email: mcfaddenka@upmc.edu

Education

  • MD - 2000, University of Pittsburgh

Clinical Expertise

I am a board certified neuropathologist with clinical expertise in the anatomy/microstructure, development, and pathology of the brain and spinal cord, peripheral nervous system, and neuromuscular system.

Research Interests

The primary interest of our lab is developmental neuropathology, particularly the neurobiological substrates underlying impaired neuronal connectivity in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) as well as determining which brain developmental processes give rise to these alterations. Our long held suspicion is that at least one such critical process is dysregulated neuronal neurite outgrowth and targeting. My research, funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and performed in collaboration with Drs. Nancy Minshew and Bernie Devlin, is a developmental neurobiological study of temporal and regional gene expression in mouse and postmortem human brain tissue. The selection of these candidate axonal guidance genes was based on results from the Autism Genome Project genome wide association scan. I am also an Autism Tissue Project researcher, examining cortical layering abnormalities in autism using layer-specific antibodies in collaboration with Dr. Paula Monaghan-Nichols. We are also conducting preliminary studies of axonal behavior and tract configuration in a murine velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS) model of ASD. One of our current projects involves a conditional knock-out mouse model of Sall4, an important zinc finger transcription factor crucial for cortical development. We are also examining cortical layering abnormalities in autism using layer-specific antibodies in autopsy material derived from the Brain Atlas Celloidin Project under the auspices of the Autism Tissue Project.

Certifications

ABP Anatomic Pathology/Neuropathology, 2007

Specialties

Neuropathology

Selected Publications

View Dr. McFadden's publications on PubMed

McFadden, K., Hamilton, R.L., Insalaco, S., Lavine, L, Al-Mateen, M., Wang, G. and C.A.Wiley. 2005. Neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease without polyglutamine inclusions in a child. Journal of Neurology and Experimental Neuropathology 64:545-552 2005.

Wallach CJ, Kim JS, Sobajima S, Lattermann C, Oxner WM, McFadden K, Robbins PD, Gilbertson LG, Kang JD. 2006. Safety assessment of intradiscal gene transfer: a pilot study. Spine J.6:107-12.

Horbinski, C., Bejjani, G.K., Cieply, K., and McFadden, K. 2008. Primary intracranial dural-associated synovial sarcoma with an unusual SYT fluorescence in situ hybridization pattern. Journal of Neurosurgery: 109:897-903.

Orebaugh, S., McFadden, K., Skorupan, H., Bigeleisen, P. 2010. Subepineurial injection in ultrasound-guided interscalene needle tip placement. Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine 35:450-454.

Minshew, N., McFadden K. 2011. Commentary for special issue of autism research on mouse models in ASD: A clinical perspective. Autism Research 4: 1–4.

Tomycz, N., Ortiz, V., McFadden, K., Urgo, L., Moossy, J. 2012. Management of Symptomatic Intrathecal Catheter-Tip Masses. Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery 114:190-195.

Melhem, N., Middleton, F., McFadden, K., Klei, L., Faraone, S., Vinogradov, S., Tiobech, J., Yano, V., Kuartei, S., Roeder, K., Byerley, W., Devlin, B., Myles-Worsley, M. 2011. Natural history of copy number variants affecting risk for psychotic disorders in Oceanic Palau: risk and transmission in extended pedigrees. Biologic Psychiatry 70:1115-1121.