Rate My Professor Holly O’Donnell

Holly O’Donnell, PhD, is an Assistant Professor and Clinical Psychologist in the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes, Pediatrics Division, at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, School of Medicine. She received her PhD in Clinical Health Psychology from the University of Colorado Denver in 2020, MA from the University of Colorado Denver in 2016, and BA from Middlebury College in 2012. Dr. O’Donnell completed her internship at the Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School Program in 2020 and a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric type 1 diabetes psychology at the University of Colorado in 2022. She joined the Barbara Davis Center faculty in 2022, where she serves as consulting psychologist for the ASK and ASK the Experts programs. She is a member of the Psychosocial Committees for the TEDDY and TrialNet studies.

Dr. O’Donnell’s research interests center on the psychological impact of screening for preclinical type 1 diabetes, psychological aspects of living with type 1 diabetes including fear of hypoglycemia and diabetes burnout, and identification of psychological barriers to adherence in clinical settings. As principal investigator, she leads a pilot grant examining children’s psychological experiences in the ASK program, such as anxiety related to type 1 diabetes development and predictors of engagement in monitoring. She is co-investigator on two multi-site R01 grants developing treatments for psychological barriers like fear of hypoglycemia and diabetes burnout. Clinically, she supports patients of all ages and families in managing psychological challenges of type 1 diabetes to improve quality of life. Key publications include “Real-world experiences of adult individuals or caregivers of children who received teplizumab treatment in stage 2 type 1 diabetes” (Diabetes Obes Metab, 2025), “Consensus Guidance for Monitoring Individuals With Islet Autoantibody-Positive Pre-Stage 3 Type 1 Diabetes” (Diabetes Care, 2024), “Psychological impact of screening for risk of type 1 diabetes” (Curr Diab Rep, 2025), “Children’s understanding of risk for type 1 diabetes: the TEDDY study” (Clin Diabetes, 2025), and “Parent Feedback on the Reducing Emotional Distress for Childhood Hypoglycemia in Parents (REDCHiP) Intervention” (Children, 2025).