Siraisi received a B.A. (1953) and an M.A. (1958) from the University of Oxford and a Ph.D. (1970) from the City University of New York. She was a professor of history at Hunter College (1970–2003) and the Graduate Center (1976–2003) at the
City University of New York, where she studied under
Pearl Kibre. Siraisi was a leading scholar in the history of medicine and science of the Middle Ages and the
Renaissance. Her research ranged widely across these two distinct fields, from her first book on the university curriculum in medieval Padua to her work on the role of doctors in history-writing in the Renaissance. Through her numerous publications and professional activities, Siraisi contributed to the growth of the history of science and medicine while also fostering the continued close interaction of these fields with "mainstream" history, notably through her faithful teaching of general medieval and Renaissance history and her insistence on careful contextualization. Siraisi died on April 24, 2026, at the age of 93. ==Awards and honors==