Dr. McDermott is a Senior Lecturer at the Lally School of Management, with a Ph.D. in Management from the University at Albany’s Department of Organizational Studies and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Duke University. She brings extensive industry experience to the classroom, having worked in Technical Marketing at Fairchild Space Company and in product development at Alcatel Network Systems. Her research is deeply informed by her technological background, focusing on business strategy and competitive advantage. Dr. McDermott's interests include measuring organizational competencies and investments and their impact on performance across various contexts. Her current research explores the strategic use of Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) in medical groups and how non-physician care providers, such as Nurse Practitioners, influence group performance. Additionally, she investigates the role of Operations in Entrepreneurship, particularly in relation to startups.

In addition to her teaching and research roles at Lally, Professor McDermott also acts as the Coordinator for the Accelerated Master's Engineering/Science + MBA Program.