She studied nursing at the Union Memorial Hospital School of Nursing and The Johns Hopkins University, where she also received advanced training as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. She was one of the original founders and a board member of the Baltimore Rape Crisis Center and the Alzheimer's Disease Association of Maryland. She has been a trustee of the Baltimore Zoo, the Union Memorial Hospital and the Boys Latin School of Maryland. She was a member of the Maryland Governor's Task Force on Dementia and a member of the medical advisory board of the Wellness Community.