Physician-Scientist & Filmmaker

Reimagining how illness and life transitions are seen, recorded, and shared.

Kimberly Lovie Murdaugh, MD MS is a physician–scientist and filmmaker whose work bridges medicine, public health, and the creative arts. Trained at Harvard University and Yale School of Medicine, she designs new ways of seeing, documenting, and communicating the lived experience of illness.

At the core of her work is a guiding question:
How can art, imaging, and narrative help us reclaim the self in a changing body?

  • Drawing from engineering, radiology, and the history of visual culture, Dr. Murdaugh develops tools to address overlooked aspects of women’s health. She patented a device to improve gynecologic surgery and developed the first clinical protocols for clitoral ultrasound, turning previously uncharted anatomy into a research and diagnostic tool. Her work explores imaging as a way to reclaim the medical gaze and advance women’s health.

    As a filmmaker and professional artist (IAA/AIAP), Dr. Murdaugh works in photography, experimental cinema, and narrative autofiction. She made her international photography debut in Seoul in 2021 and her short film debut in Los Angeles in 2022. Her work uses imaging techniques from radiology to explore grief, embodiment, and transformation, emphasizing creative practice as a form of coping, witnessing, and healing.

    Her current work explores multimodality as a framework for reimagining how medical knowledge is created, translated, and shared across life transitions and serious illness. She builds AI-powered clinical communication systems, patient- and clinician-facing educational curricula, and creative media projects that expand care for vulnerable populations. She collaborates widely with academic medical centers, community health organizations, and public health agencies to pursue accessible models of care.

    Dr. Murdaugh is passionate about public pedagogy, community engagement, and mentoring trainees from underrepresented groups in science and medicine. She is committed to training the next generation to think critically and creatively about how health is communicated and experienced across the lifespan.

Research & Innovation

I develop clinical tools, imaging approaches, and communication systems that help patients, clinicians, and communities see and share experiences of illness and embodiment. My work spans ultrasound innovation and AI-enabled clinical communication, unified by a multimodal commitment to care.

Multimodality Usage in Clinical Communication

Multimodality Usage in Clinical Communication

Clitoral Ultrasound Protocol

Clitoral Ultrasound Protocol

Lung Cancer Screening: IBREATHE

Lung Cancer Screening: IBREATHE

Imaging Findings of Vaping

Imaging Findings of Vaping

Preventing stillbirth with EPV

Preventing stillbirth with EPV

Estimated Placental Volume (EPV)

Estimated Placental Volume (EPV)

Disparities in Breast Cancer Screening

Disparities in Breast Cancer Screening

Clitoral Blood Flow after Use of Gel

Clitoral Blood Flow after Use of Gel

A Safer Laparascopic Morcellator

A Safer Laparascopic Morcellator

ZnO Nanoparticle Pharmacokinetics

ZnO Nanoparticle Pharmacokinetics

ZnO Nanoparticles in Circulation

ZnO Nanoparticles in Circulation

Safer ZnO Nanoparticles

Safer ZnO Nanoparticles

Teaching & Mentorship

I approach teaching as a multimodal practice: part science, part story, part design. Whether in a classroom, clinic, or community space, I create frameworks for people to understand and share their experiences of health.

Clitoral Ultrasound ISSWSH Webinar

Clitoral Ultrasound ISSWSH Webinar

Speaker: “Becoming a Renaissance Researcher,” USC

Speaker: “Becoming a Renaissance Researcher,” USC

Clitoral Ultrasound CME Course

Clitoral Ultrasound CME Course

LungCheck: Patient & Clinician Education in Lung Cancer Screening

LungCheck: Patient & Clinician Education in Lung Cancer Screening

Workshop Presenter: “Sex, Love & Art: The Interplay Between Sensuality & Creative Self-Expression”, AATA Annual Conference

Workshop Presenter: “Sex, Love & Art: The Interplay Between Sensuality & Creative Self-Expression”, AATA Annual Conference

Harvard University Teaching Fellow, 2009–2013

Harvard University Teaching Fellow, 2009–2013

Community Outreach

I collaborate with community groups to make health information accessible, understandable, and usable. By bringing clinical knowledge into neighborhood spaces, I support patients, families, and advocates in communicating needs, navigating care, and shaping healthier outcomes.

Save Beth Israel Coalition

Save Beth Israel Coalition

Public Health Educator: Vision Urbana (Lower East Side)

Public Health Educator: Vision Urbana (Lower East Side)

Community Health Educator: HAPP Lecture Series (Queens & Brooklyn)

Community Health Educator: HAPP Lecture Series (Queens & Brooklyn)

Board Member: Broadway For All

Board Member: Broadway For All

Visual Practice

As a visual artist recognized by the International Association of Art (IAA/AIAP), I work with photography, film, material styling, and autofictional narrative to explore embodiment and the medical gaze. My visual practice examines how bodies are seen, cloaked, and interpreted across clinical and everyday contexts.

More images in my visual archive:

A black and white image of a classical sculpture bust with an X-ray overlay showing the skull and facial bones.
X-ray image of a human skull in profile view.
X-ray image of a human skull in profile view.
A woman in a long black dress is standing in front of a large X-ray image of a chest, with her hand raised and her index finger pointing upward.
A black and white photo of a woman's lower face, neck, and shoulders. She has red lipstick, and there is red blood on her neck with a few pills nearby.
Close-up of the headless statue of a winged figure in a museum interior, with a large clock window in the background.
X-ray image of a pelvis showing bones and hip joints.
A black-and-white photograph of a classical marble sculpture depicting a kneeling, muscular man with curly hair, holding a cloth over his shoulder, with other sculptures in the background.
A ballet dancer wearing a tutu and headpiece performing on stage, with arms raised overhead, in a black and white photograph.
A ballet dancer in a white tutu and feathered headpiece performing on a bridge over a river, with trees and skyscrapers in the background.

Dying Swan (Anna Pavlova)

A ballerina dressed as a fairy, wearing a pink tutu, ballet slippers, and a headpiece, gently balancing on one foot in a wooded area with pink flowers and green foliage.
A woman dressed in a white feathered costume, with a large white feathered headdress, sitting on the grass with her eyes closed.
A woman dressed in a white ballet costume with a large feathered headpiece is sitting on the grass in a park with trees and greenery in the background.
Kimberly Lovie Murdaugh's Polaroid dress made out of Polaroids taken in the Paris Catacombs

Paris Catacombs Polaroid Dress

Kimberly Lovie Murdaugh's Polaroid dress made out of Polaroids taken in the Paris Catacombs
Kimberly Lovie Murdaugh's Polaroid dress made out of Polaroids taken in the Paris Catacombs
Kimberly Lovie Murdaugh's Polaroid dress made out of Polaroids taken in the Paris Catacombs
Kimberly Lovie Murdaugh, performance artist, as phoenix rising

Phoenix Molting and Rising

Kimberly Lovie Murdaugh, performance artist, as phoenix molting
Kimberly Lovie Murdaugh, performance artist, as phoenix rising
Kimberly Lovie Murdaugh, performance artist, as Nijinsky's faun

l'après-midi d'un faune (Vaslav Nijinsky)

A person dressed as a Roman or Greek character, kneeling and holding a piece of fabric or cloth in hand, with the fabric draped in front of them.
Kimberly Lovie Murdaugh, performance artist, as Nijinsky's faun
Black and white photograph of a woman with short hair, holding a bunch of flowers close to her chest, with her eyes cast downward.
Kimberly Lovie Murdaugh, performance artist, as Nijinsky's faun
Black and white photo of a person kneeling on snow with arms extended, wearing a hat and clothing with bold polka dot patterns.
Kimberly Lovie Murdaugh as Jean Cocteau's Poet

Poet (Le sang d'un poète, Jean Cocteau)

Black and white photo of a woman with a large headpiece and a shiny, textured shawl draped over her shoulders, with her face partially turned and a serious expression.

Community March to Save Beth Israel Hospital (2024)

Seppuku (2021)

Bleeding Poet, Film Star (2020)

Pigment of the Surgeon (2024)

Press & Media

A Sound Approach to Women's Health

A Sound Approach to Women's Health

Resource Aims to Reduce Disparities in Lung Cancer Screening

Resource Aims to Reduce Disparities in Lung Cancer Screening

A Standard of Care

A Standard of Care

Embracing the Artist, Becoming a Doctor

Embracing the Artist, Becoming a Doctor

Rally to Protest Mount Sinai Beth Israel Closure

Rally to Protest Mount Sinai Beth Israel Closure

Beth Israel Closure Threatens Vulnerable Patients

Beth Israel Closure Threatens Vulnerable Patients

The Nocturnists | The Radiologist Gaze | thenocturnists.org

CICA Museum | Liminal Exposure | South Korea | cicamuseum.com

Film and Video Poetry Symposium | Seppuku | Los Angeles | 2024

Tokyo International Short Film Festival | Corpus Piggy | Tokyo | 2023

First Hermetic International Film Festival | Corpus Piggy | Venice | 2022

The Intima | Patient Perspective | theintima.org

IAA World Art Day Exhibition | Fragile Warrior | iaa-usa.org