Nancy Donovan

Nancy Donovan is Director of Geriatric Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Associate Researcher, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. She received her MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and completed a residency in psychiatry at Stanford University Medical Center and subspecialty training in Geriatric Psychiatry at Cambridge Hospital. She is a co-investigator in observational studies of aging and Alzheimer’s disease at MGH and clinical research interventions at BWH.

Dr. Donovan’s research focuses on neurobehavioral changes in aging and preclinical Alzheimer’s disease and the associations of these symptoms with brain changes due to Alzheimer’s disease. This work has included studies of late-life neurobehavioral symptoms such as depression and anxiety, as well as changes in social engagement and loneliness. Her research has been funded through the National Institute on Aging and private philanthropy.

Dr. Donovan served on the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine Ad hoc Committee on the Health and Medical Dimensions of Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults from 2018-2020.