Professor Shanahan was educated in Australia and obtained a PhD in Genetics from the University of Adelaide. She began research in the field of cardiovascular medicine in the Biochemistry Department at the University of Cambridge UK. From 1995-2004 she was a British Heart Foundation Lecturer and in 2005 became a BHF Senior Fellow in the Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge. In 2007 she left Cambridge to take up the Chair of Cellular Signalling in the School of Cardiovascular Medicine and Sciences at King’s College London and is currently Theme Lead for Vascular Biology.

Professor Shanahan’s work focuses on mechanisms of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) dysfunction in ageing and disease and she performed pioneering work in the area of vascular calcification. She has published over 150 articles, reviews and book chapters.

She is a member of the British Atherosclerosis Society, British Society of Cardiovascular Research, European Vascular Biology Organisation and North America Vascular Biology Organisation and serves on the Editorial Boards of Circulation Research, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology and Journal of Cardiovascular Aging. She plays an active role in mentoring and improving participation and work experience of women in science and is Vice-Dean of Development, Diversity and Inclusion for the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine.