She has fostered collaborations with the multidisciplinary CNS/Pediatric teams have resulted in multiple publications and her being co-principal investigator on several funded protocols. Collectively, her research interests and expertise provide a unique perspective to investigate optimization of radiation beam properties to improve radiation therapy outcomes concentrating on both adult and pediatric patients with central nervous system malignancies. Dr. McAleer's principle research focus has been in normal tissue toxicity following radiotherapy or combined chemoradiotherapy in patients with central nervous system malignancies. Much of her work has examine factors that contribute to or mitigate the adverse effects of radiation treatment on adjacent normal critical structures, including normal brain, brainstem, optic apparatus, cochleae, hippocampi, and spinal cord. This research interest naturally evolved from her basic science background and ground-breaking work developing the zebrafish and an in vivo model to evaluate radiation response and its modification in vertebrates. In order to "translate" this research into clinically meaningful endpoints, Dr. McAleer had to investigate treatment-related toxicities and means to modulate them using unique radiation delivery methods (proton beam therapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, image guidance/target localization, and adaptive planning) and has developed investigator-initiated protocols for prospective validation of these approaches.