Professor Katie McMahon
Faculty of Health,
School of Clinical Sciences
Biography
Professor Katie McMahon is a highly esteemed academic, currently holding the positions of Deputy Director of the Herston Imaging Research Facility and Academic Lead for Research at the School of Clinical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology (QUT). With an illustrious career spanning over 27 years in biomedical imaging and analysis, she is a leading authority in her field.Prof. McMahon's groundbreaking research delves into the intricate neurobiology of language, learning, and memory, exploring the profound genetic and environmental influences on brain structure and function. Her pioneering work is pivotal in unraveling the complexities of cognitive system failures associated with conditions such as stroke, epilepsy, and brain tumors. Additionally, she investigates critical behavioral and neurological markers in children with language development challenges, including autism and specific language impairments. Her collaborative efforts extend to examining musculoskeletal function and identifying MRI markers in whiplash injuries.
Beyond her research, Prof. McMahon is a dedicated educator, contributing significantly to undergraduate courses in radiation therapy and medical imaging. She has also developed innovative online professional development courses in MR-guided radiation therapy. Her commitment to nurturing the next generation of scientists is evident through her mentorship of numerous higher research degree students.
For those interested in exploring collaborative projects or seeking her expertise, Prof. McMahon welcomes inquiries and discussions.
Personal details
Positions
- Professor
Faculty of Health,
School of Clinical Sciences
Keywords
functional magnetic resonance imaging, neuroimaging, language, genetics, brain development, memory, aphasia
Research field
Clinical sciences, Neurosciences, Cognitive and computational psychology
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- PhD (University of Queensland)
Professional memberships and associations
Prof. McMahon is a member of several prestigious organizations, including the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, the Society for Neuroscience, and the Organisation of Human Brain Mapping, National Imaging Facility Scientific Advisory group and Human Imaging Thematic Group; and is an affiliate member of the CRE Aphasia Recovery and Rehabilitation.
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6357-615X
Teaching
Prof McMahon contributes several guest lectures and practical sessions for undergraduate courses in medical imaging, radiation therapy and medical physics (CSH077, CSB059, CBS063, PCN211). She coordinates Review of Contemporary Clinical Practice (CSB072) and the Research Project for Honours (HLH403). She also contributes to the continuing professional development course in MR-guided radiation therapy.
Experience
Prof McMahon works closely with Queensland Health in many of her research projects, with generous support from philanthropic organisations, such as Cancer Care Queensland, Perpetual and Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital Foundation. She contributes to the National Imaging Facility human imaging theme, and scientific advisory committee.
Publications
Research outputs by year
- Brownsett, S., Ramajoo, K., Copland, D., McMahon, K., Robinson, G., Drummond, K., Jeffree, R., Olson, S., Ong, B. & de Zubicaray, G. (2019). Language deficits following dominant hemisphere tumour resection are significantly underestimated by syndrome-based aphasia assessments. Aphasiology, 33(10), 1163–1181. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/132374
- de Zubicaray, G., Drummond, K., Murton, E., Ong, B., Jeffree, R., Tolkacheva, V. & McMahon, K. (2026). Shape features of white matter tracts associated with post-surgical speech production outcomes. Brain and Language, 277, Article 105753. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/264569
- Scott, A., Lo, A., Xia, Y., Thompson, K., Bodimeade, H., Fazlollahi, A., Weber, N., Curley, C., Hunt, S., Morris, K., McNamara, C., Perera, N., Subramoniapillai, E., Lane, S., Kennedy, G., Salvado, O., Urriola, J. & McMahon, K. (2026). Dose-dependent impairment of brain functional and microstructural connectivity during leukaemia chemotherapy. British Journal of Haematology, 208(5), 1692–1703. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/264063
- Tolkacheva, V., Brownsett, S., McMahon, K. & de Zubicaray, G. (2026). No Causal Role for Premotor Cortex in the Perception or Misperception of Degraded Speech: Evidence from Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 38(4), 731–748. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/261209
- Devonport, B., Burbery, J., McMahon, K., Stewart, K. & Hargrave, C. (2025). The Feasibility of Total Body Photography (TBP) in Superficial Radiation Therapy (SXRT). Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences, 72(4), 473–482. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/259295
- Serrarens, C., Toenders, Y., Pozzi, E., Aleman, A., Alexander, N., Basgöze, Z., Belov, V., Berger, K., Brosch, K., Bülow, R., Busatto, G., Capitão, L., Connolly, C., Couvy-Duchesne, B., Cullen, K., Dannlowski, U., Davey, C., de Zubicaray, G., Dima, D. & Dohm, K. (2025). Regional brain morphology and current antidepressant use: findings from 32 international cohorts from the ENIGMA major depressive disorder working group. Molecular Psychiatry, 30(12), 5625–5636. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/261358
- Volfart, A., McMahon, K., Liégeois-Chauvel, C., Piai, V. & de Zubicaray, G. (2025). Are the ventral anterior temporal lobes involved in accessing conceptual knowledge during spoken word production?: fMRI evidence from auditory naming. Cortex, 192, 35–52. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/260149
- Silva, A., Sønderby, I., Kirov, G., Abdellaoui, A., Agartz, I., Ames, D., Armstrong, N., Artiges, E., Banaschewski, T., Bassett, A., Bearden, C., Blangero, J., Boen, R., Boomsma, D., Bülow, R., Butcher, N., Calhoun, V., Campbell, L., Chow, E. & Ciufolini, S. (2025). Penetrance of neurodevelopmental copy number variants is associated with variations in cortical morphology. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 10(10), 1093–1106. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/257736
- Crowe, S., Cassim, N., Luscombe, J., McMahon, K. & Kairn, T. (2026). Feasibility study: Use of an optical scanning system to obtain 3D body surface images suitable for total skin electron therapy treatment dosimetry. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics, 27(7), Article e70690. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/266716
- de Zubicaray, G., Krsmanovic, M., McMahon, K., Tolkacheva, V. & Arciuli, J. (2026). Brain mechanisms for processing systematic sound-to-meaning mappings for concrete and abstract concepts. Cortex, 202, 258–272. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/266518
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Katie, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Filter publications:
A complete list of publications is available at: https://www.qut.edu.au/about/our-people/academic-profiles/k21.mcmahon
Selected research projects
- Title
- Toward Phonologically Aware Language Models
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP260104531
- Start year
- 2026
- Keywords
- Title
- A Prospective Study of Language Impairment and Recovery Following Surgery for Brain Tumours
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 1079157
- Start year
- 2015
- Keywords
- brain tumours; aphasia; cancer follow-up; cancer sequelae; brain imaging
- Title
- Neurodevelopment during Adolescence: A Longitudinal Imaging Study
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 1078756
- Start year
- 2015
- Keywords
- Twins; Brain Imaging; Quantitative Genetics; Adolescent Health; Mental Health
- Title
- ASPIRE - A New Scalable and Sustainable Platform to Improve Survivorship Care for Assault Victims Living with Severe Physical and Psychological Deficits
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- MRF2040467
- Start year
- 2025
- Keywords
- Title
- Optimising Ultrasound-based Liver Fat Quantification Methods
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- Start year
- 2024
- Keywords
- Title
- Promoting School Re-Entry and Enhancing Academic Engagement in Survivors of Paediatric Brain Cancer
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- IPAP2021/0582
- Start year
- 2021
- Keywords
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Current supervisions
- Barriers and enablers to trainee sonographer work-integrated learning experience
PhD, Mentoring Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Chris Edwards, Dr Tristan Reddan - Chronic language deficits post left-hemisphere tumour resection: a retrospective study integrating structural and functional neuroimaging with behavioural findings
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Greig de Zubicaray - Diagnostic Reference Levels of Multi-Detector CT scanners in Jordan
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Davide Fontanarosa, Adjunct Associate Professor Jamie Trapp - Exploring Barriers to Breast Imaging: Applying a Patient-Centred Co-design Approach in a Regional Hospital
MPhil, Mentoring Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Chris Edwards, Dr Therese Gunn, Ms Noirin Neligan - Exploring the Role of Australian Radiographers in the Quality Use of Medicines
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Adjunct Professor Debbie Starkey - Heritability and Neurodevelopmental Correlates of Literacy and Numeracy in Adolescent Twins
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Greig de Zubicaray - Including temporal information in the longitudinal analysis of brain MR images using Deep Learning
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Clinton Fookes, Dr Leo Lebrat - Relationships Between Phonological Form and Meaning of Mandarin Words
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Greig de Zubicaray - Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy for Spinal malignancies on the MR-Linac
MPhil, Associate Supervisor - The Neural Basis of Phonological Processing in Spoken Word Production
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Greig de Zubicaray
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms for Perceiving and Misperceiving Speech (2025)
- Cascaded activation and neuronal oscillations during speech production (2023)
- From the laboratory to the community: A study exploring factors to make exercise for persistent post-concussion symptoms more accessible (2022)
- What's in a Verb? Insights From Behavioural and Neural Investigations of Action Picture Naming (2022)
Completed supervisions (Masters by Research)
Supervision topics
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.