Dr. McDaniel is the Dr Laurie Sands Distinguished Professor of Families & Health.  She is Director of the Institute for the Family in the Department of Psychiatry, and Vice Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, where she has been since beginning her career in 1980.  Her special areas of interest are behavioral/mental health in primary care, and family dynamics and genetic conditions.  She is a frequent speaker at meetings of both health and mental health professionals. She is also the 2017 Past President of the American Psychological Association. 

Dr. McDaniel is the author of more than 80 journal articles and 15 books. She was co-editor with Tom Campbell MD of Families, Systems & Health for 12 years, and is now an Associate Editor of the American Psychologist.  She co-authored or co-edited Medical Family Therapy, Primary Care Psychology, Family-oriented Primary Care and 10 other books, which have been translated into 8 languages.  Dr McDaniel is very active in the American Psychological Assn, having held many positions of leadership in the organization. Dr. McDaniel has received many awards, most recently the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Recognition Award in 2011, the Donald Bloch MD Award for Outstanding Contributions to Collaborative Care in 2009, the American Psychological Foundation/Cummings PSYCHE Prize in 2007, and the Award for Distinguished Contribution to Education from the Association of Medical School Psychologists in 2004. Dr McDaniel is married to David Siegel MD MPH; they have two daughters, Hanna, age 25, and Marisa, age 22.