barbara rae was born july 17, 1948, in auckland, new zealand, and raised in auckland's remuera neighborhood. she moved to the united states at age 20, and has united states citizenship. she earned a bachelor of arts degree in psychology and biochemistry from the university of california at san diego in 1972, and received her ph.d. in biology at the same institution in 1976. from 1976 to 1979 she was a postdoctoral fellow at roswell park memorial institute in buffalo, new york. from 1979 to 1983 she was assistant professor at the university of texas medical branch in galveston, texas. she matriculated at university of texas at austin law school in may 1983 and received her j.d. in august 1985. she later worked as a patent lawyer in california specializing in biotechnology, and was an assistant professor at stanford university from 1988 to 1990. rae-venter focused her research career on breast and gastrointestinal cancer