Kathleen Yoder earned her PhD in behavioral neuroscience from Rutgers University. Her research focused on the hormonal modulation of sensory processing of communication signals. 

Following a postdoctoral research fellowship at Johns Hopkins, she ventured outside of academia to learn the ropes of medical writing, acquiring new skills and application of her old ones. Kathleen joined MDA in 2015 as a Director of Medical Education, and continues to learn from multidisciplinary teams as part of organizing programs for them to engage and learn from each other.