Dr. McDonnell received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Dartmouth College.  A 1982 graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dr. McDonnell completed a residency in ophthalmology at the Wilmer Institute, followed by a fellowship in Cornea and External Diseases at the Doheny Eye Institute of the University of Southern California. He returned to Johns Hopkins to be Assistant Chief of Service at the Wilmer Institute, before joining the full-time faculty at the University of Southern California, where he advanced to the rank of professor in 1994. 

In 1999, he was named the Irving H. Leopold Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of California-Irvine.  In 2003, he returned to Johns Hopkins University where he leads the Wilmer Eye Institute as the sixth William Holland Wilmer Professor and Director.  The Wilmer Institute is the largest ophthalmology department in the country, with over 200 full-time faculty, and it receives the most research funding.  It includes the only designated eye trauma center in the State of Maryland, and last year provided eye care for patients from throughout Maryland,  from all 50 states and from 84 foreign countries.

Dr. McDonnell’s research interests include surgical correction of refractive error, dry eye disease, ocular infection and the use of nano-technological solutions for the improvement of drug delivery to the eye.  He is the recipient of research grants from the National Eye Institute, Research to Prevent Blindness, and other funding agencies.  He has published over 250 scientific articles and holds eight patents.  The American Academy of Ophthalmology honored him with the Honor Award in 1991 and the Senior Achievement Award in 2001. In 2003, he received the Alcon Research Institute Award.  A member of many professional ophthalmology and medical societies, Dr. McDonnell has served on the editorial boards of six ophthalmology journals and is currently Medical Editor of Ophthalmology Times.  He is Vice President-elect of the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology whose mission is continuing education for ophthalmologists, prevention of blindness, and promotion of scientific and cultural exchange among ophthalmologists of the Western Hemisphere.  He is President of the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research, an organization that informs the public about the value of federally-funded research into blinding eye diseases.