Dr. Kathleen Malee

Title and Affiliation 
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Contact: KMalee@luriechildrens.org 
 

PHACS Role
Co-Chair, Neurodevelopmental and Neurology Working Group

Dr. Kay Malee is a psychologist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital/Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, IL. Dr. Malee joined the Special Infectious Diseases (SID) division of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago in 1992. The early years of her tenure in the division coincided with the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic when infants and children with perinatally acquired HIV were first diagnosed and antiretroviral therapy options were limited. Dr. Malee’s role in the Special Infectious Diseases clinic included provision of developmental and psychological services to children, parents, and families as they managed HIV and its complications. She also joined colleagues across the United States to develop and implement longitudinal studies of health, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes among children and youth with HIV and children with in utero HIV exposure, including the Women and Infants Transmission Study (WITS), the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group (PACTG), the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT), and the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS). This work provided opportunities to acknowledge risks associated with HIV but also to recognize children’s and families’ areas of strength and identify meaningful services to support positive outcomes throughout the lifespan.

Dr. Malee received a PhD in psychology from Loyola University of Chicago in 1987 and joined the faculty of Prentice Women’s Hospital/Northwestern University, providing early developmental support and follow-up services to infants born prematurely or with significant health complications. Dr. Malee’s current work at Lurie Children’s Hospital includes collaboration with global health scientists and mentorship of young investigators in the US, Thailand, Cambodia, and Nigeria as they identify strategies to promote healthy development among youth in countries where HIV remains prevalent. Dr. Malee maintains a leadership role in PHACS as co-chair of the Neurodevelopmental and Neurology Working Group and is an active investigator in multiple HIV-focused investigations in the US and internationally.