Pamela received a BS with distinction in biology (neurobiology and behavior) from Cornell University and a PhD in health policy (decision science) from Harvard University. She was the recipient of training grants from the National Library of Medicine and the National Cancer Institute (Program in Cancer Outcomes Research and Training, at the ITA) and is now funded by a National Cancer Institute Howard Temin Pathway to Independence (K99-R00) Award.

Dr. McMahon previously worked in biomedical research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Genetics Institute (now Wyeth), where she was a Scientist in Discovery Research. In 1998, she joined the ITA, where her work has focused on informing decisions about the appropriate use of imaging strategies for the diagnosis of cancer and other diseases. She has also co-authored articles on adjusting competing mortality risks for smoking status and reviews of cancer screening models and technology assessment.

She is currently using a policy model to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of helical CT screening for lung cancer and developing approaches for modeling genomic and proteomic profiles in lung cancer. Her methodological research interests include Bayesian evidence synthesis and estimation of competing mortality risks, as well as calibration techniques for complex microsimulation models.