Rae conducted her PhD with Professor Steven Stacker at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research through the University of Melbourne, completing in 2009. Her work, published in Cancer Research, identified tumour-associated molecular and structural changes to specialised blood vessels within the sentinel lymph nodes of tumours. This initiated her career-long interest in the many ways that the endothelial cells lining blood and lymphatic vessels influence cancer progression – whether by supporting tumour growth, enabling metastasis, creating supportive niches or influencing tumour immunity. 

Rae subsequently gained postdoctoral experience at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute with Associate Professor. Martin Lackmann. Here she worked with international collaborators investigating the role and therapeutic targeting of cell adhesion and guidance molecules in multiple aspects of cancer progression. She developed novel research tools alongside skills in 3D co-culture assays and stem cell biology.

In 2016, Rae rejoined Professor Stacker’s group at Peter Mac, stepping into supervision roles and contributing to publications in Cancer Cell and Science Signaling which describe novel molecular mechanisms regulating lymphatic vessel growth and remodelling in cancer. In 2019 Rae received support from an NHMRC Project Grant and a Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation Grant to investigate the role of endothelial cells in regulating the arrival and establishment of metastatic cells in sentinel lymph nodes and critical distant organs such as the lung and brain. Rae’s team is presently using single cell RNA sequencing technology, spatial analyses and functional cell biological assays to unravel the complex cellular and molecular events underlying the earliest stages of metastatic colonisation. She is also leading a project to develop CAR T cells to a new tumour-associated target. 

Rae's research vision is to understand the mechanisms by which blood and lymphatic vessels regulate the movement and behaviour of other cell types involved in cancer, with the aim of developing new prognostic or therapeutic approaches to improve options and outcomes for cancer patients.