Dr. Mayer obtained her medical degree from the Federal University of Sáo Paulo, Brazil in 1993. Thereafter, she came to the United States for her post-graduate training (internship, residency, chief-residency and Hematology/ Oncology fellowship) at the University of Illinois at Chicago, between 1994 and 2001. During that time, Dr. Mayer received an American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Young Investigator Award in 2001 for her research project focused on the inhibitory effects of IFN-alpha in chronic myelogenous leukemia.

In September, 2003, Dr. Mayer was recruited to Vanderbilt University as an Assistant Professor of Medicine and member of the Breast Cancer Program of the NCI-designated Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC). She successfully completed a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation (MSCI) Program at Vanderbilt University in May 2006.