Dr Mairéad McNamara has a BSc in Biochemistry and a PhD in Pharmacology (National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway). After a period of time lecturing (NUI, Galway), she commenced Medicine in University College Cork, Ireland and obtained a B Med Sci while completing her MB BCh BAO.  She obtained her Certificate of satisfactory completion of specialist training (Medical Oncology) from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) of Ireland, and did a three year clinical research fellowship in Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Canada (2011-2014).

She was appointed in 2014 as a Senior Lecturer/Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology (University of Manchester [UoM]/The Christie NHS Foundation Trust), and specialises in the treatment of patients with Hepatopancreaticobiliary/Neuroendocrine neoplasms, and is involved in clinical and translational research in these subject areas.

She obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education in 2018 (UoM), and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK) and has fellowship of the RCP (UK). She completed the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Education Scholars Programme in 2021 and was a member of the ASCO Education Council (2020 until 2023) and is also a member of the Annual ASCO Meeting Education Committee: Gastrointestinal Cancer - Gastroesophageal, Pancreatic and Hepatobiliary Track (2021 to 2024; Track lead 2024). In addition, she is an ASCO Career Conversations mentor for Trainee & Early Career Oncologists. She was also a Faculty Member for the EORTC-ESMO-ECCO-AACR Workshops on Methods in Clinical Cancer Research (2019-2023), and she is a member of the NETs and endocrine tumours track: ESMO Congress 2025 Scientific Committee. She was chair of the UKINETs annual conference Programme Organising Committee (2021-2023) and is also a member of the ENETS advisory Board (2023 onwards (two-year term)).