Dr Clarke trained in Cambridge, UK and at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA. She was appointed Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge in 2002. She was Clinical Director for Cardiac Services (2006- 2012) leading the development and introduction of the PPCI service across the East of England. She has been Clinical Director for Strategic Development since 2012 and was Cardiology Lead for the design and development of New Royal Papworth Hospital opening 2019. She was Cardiology Lead for the Cambridge and Peterborough STP from 2015-2019 developing evidence based clinical pathways across the system and addressing cross-cutting themes such as outpatients and out-of-hours oncall.

In 2017, she was appointed joint National Lead for Cardiology for the GIRFT, ‘Getting It Right First Time’ programme helping to improve the quality of care within the NHS by reducing unwarranted variations, bringing efficiencies and improving patient outcomes across over 130 Trusts in the UK. The National Report for Cardiology is due publication early next year. Dr Clarke has been involved in the work of the British Cardiovascular Society since 2000.

As Vice President for Education and Research, she became the first female Officer and Trustee of the Society in 2011. She was elected the first female President 2015- 2018 and took the Society through an ambitious modernisation programme to provide a better service for members and deliver key initiatives in quality improvement, education, research and data science. Dr Clarke was elected Councillor and Trustee to the Board of the Royal College of Physicians (London) in 2018 and in 2019 was elected Clinical Vice President responsible for the Care Quality Improvement Division. Dr Clarke is Trustee to the Board of the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and a member of the Board of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in 2019, chairing the Media Committee. She is European Representative on the Assembly of International Governors of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and Co-chair of the International Centres of Excellence Programme (ACC). Dr Clarke is Editor for Education in Heart, the international peer-reviewed journal and International Editor of the European Heart Journal.

In 2018 Dr Clarke was awarded a grant to attend the Women Transforming Leadership Programme at the Säid Business School in Oxford and in the same year was awarded the International Service Award by the President of the American College of Cardiology for her outstanding contribution to enhancing cardiovascular care and education throughout the world.

One of her personal achievements was running her first Marathon in London earlier this year raising more than £12K for the British Heart Foundation