Board certified in Allergy & Immunology and Internal Medicine. Founder and sole provider of Optimed Immunology.
Dr. Donald L. McNeil, MD
Forty years in clinical immunology
Board Certified · Allergy & Immunology, Internal Medicine
Dr. Donald McNeil has practiced clinical immunology for more than four decades. His career has bridged academic medicine, clinical research, and private practice — with a consistent focus on patients whose conditions are complex, chronic, and often misunderstood.
He earned his medical degree from the University of Alberta in 1974, completed residencies in Internal Medicine in Montreal and at Foothills Hospital in Calgary, and pursued specialty fellowships in allergy, immunology, and clinical immunology research — including a research fellowship at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, where his work contributed to the understanding of immune cell function.
"My approach is straightforward: take the time to listen, perform a complete immune workup, and stay current on the therapies that are actually available today."
After serving on the faculty at Ohio State University and a long tenure as a partner in Columbus-area private practice, Dr. McNeil founded Optimed Immunology in 2023 to return to a model of care built around complex cases — the kind that require depth and time rather than volume.
Philosophy of care
Recurrent infections, frequent steroid courses, and repeated hospitalizations are not normal. In many cases they point to an underlying immune deficiency or dysregulation that has been overlooked — often for years. Modern clinical immunology offers real treatments that can restore the immune system's ability to fight infection and quiet inflammation, not just suppress symptoms. The challenge is recognizing the pattern in the first place.
Dr. McNeil's approach is straightforward. Listen to the patient. Take the history seriously. Order the right workup, including the tests that are not always part of a standard immune panel. When a case is unusual, consult with colleagues and review the literature. Stay current with the therapies that are actually available today, including those that have been approved within the last twelve months.
Most appointments at Optimed Immunology run 30 minutes or longer. There is no shortcut to good immunology, and there is no efficient way to listen to a patient who has been waiting years to be heard. The practice is structured around that reality.
Treatment philosophy follows the same logic. The goal is to identify and address the underlying cause of immune dysfunction, not to manage symptoms indefinitely. When immunoglobulin replacement is indicated, it is offered. When a targeted biologic is appropriate, it is prescribed. When a patient does not need a treatment, that is said plainly. Allergy shots are not part of this practice — patients who need them are referred to colleagues, and many patients who arrive on shots leave without them.
Education & training