Clinical Director of Innovation for the Inpatient Medical Programs
Boston Children’s Hospital

Kate Donovan, PhD, MBA, MS, is the Clinical Director of Innovation for the Inpatient Medical Programs at Boston Children’s Hospital. She is also a member of the Immersive Design Systems XR development team at Boston Children’s Hospital, founder of the CAITLYNN Program, and co-founder of Hacking Pediatrics, an annual pediatric focused healthcare hackathon with international reach and recognition. Dr. Donovan is a serial idea generator and has a deep interest in exploring pain points to help deliver enchanting solutions to improve the patient and family experience as well as operational efficiency for clinicians. She has been instrumental in bringing immersive technologies to Boston Children’s Hospital and has been creating and designing solutions as well as researching its use with the pediatric patient population for the past 10 years. Dr. Donovan is a sought after influencer, sharing her expertise with prominent organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK’s National Health System, Apple, and NASA. She is passionate about sharing knowledge and encouraging children living in underserved communities to pursue careers in STEM related fields. She is a mentor and STEM educator for multiple organizations in the Greater Boston area including YouthCITIES, Boston Children’s Hospital Teen Advisory Committee, Boston Public Schools, Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America, Technovation and Generation Citizen that all provide opportunities, education and leadership skills for inner city children. Dr. Donovan received her PhD from MIT and focused her research on the complexities of integrating data from consumer healthcare applications into clinical care management.