Clare graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1991. Following an internship at the University of Pennsylvania and general practice in Cambridgeshire, she completed a residency and was Staff Clinician in Neurology at the Royal Veterinary College. She became an ECVN Diplomate in 1996, an RCVS Specialist in 1999, and RCVS Fellow in 2016. She has researched Chiari-like malformation and syringomyelia (CMSM) for over 20 years. In 2007, she was awarded a Ph.D. from Utrecht University for her thesis on CMSM. In 2011, she received the J. A. Wright Memorial Award. She joined Fitzpatrick Referrals and the University of Surrey in 2013.