Elizabeth Soilleux qualified in medicine from the University of Cambridge and trained as a histopathologist in the Cambridge and Oxford deaneries, taking a break in the middle of her studies to undertake a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Immunology. After working as a consultant histopathologist in Oxford for a number of years, she took up a clinical academic post in Cambridge and started a research group, as well as undertaking a large amount of teaching in pathology at the University of Cambridge for students of medicine, veterinary medicine and biological/biomedical sciences.