McPhee is perhaps best known for her intimate, sensitive portrayals of people in critically acclaimed films such as Depression: Out of the Shadows, a primetime PBS special on the illness of depression; Dying To Be Thin, a NOVA special on eating disorders; and Children By Design, one hour of an eight-hour PBS Series called Secret of Life on the marvels and perils of the genetic revolution.

Over the years, McPhee has worked on the staff at Smithsonian World with host David McCullough, National Geographic EXPLORER, and the PBS flagship science series NOVA, where she has written, produced and directed a variety of films.  As an independent producer, she has produced a four-hour PBS Special called Big Ideas for WNET Television, as well as an hour-long special about quintuplets for the DISCOVERY Health Channel. 

As part of the PBS Health Campaign, TAKE ONE STEP, McPhee produced a panel discussion on heart disease, hosted by Larry King. Recently, she produced “Troubled Waters:  A Mississippi River Story” about the “unintended consequences” of farming practices on soil loss, water pollution and the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico.  She has received wide recognition for her work, including the prestigious Peabody, Emmy and CINE Golden Eagle Awards.