Donohue received her PhD in health policy at Harvard University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in pharmaceutical policy research at Harvard Medical School. Her research has examined the effects of pharmaceutical promotion of antidepressants to consumers and physicians, and the financing of mental health services. Donohue is currently conducting research on the impact of pharmacy insurance benefits on the use of prescription drugs among elders, including the impact of the new Medicare drug benefit on treatment patterns among beneficiaries with chronic illnesses.