MB BS Lond 1968; MRCP 1971; MRCS Eng LRCP Lond 1968; FRCR 1975; DMRD Eng 1974.
Adams was brought up in Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) and was educated there until the age of 15 when she came to England. She was married to Peter Adams [formerly professor of medicine at the University of Manchester] whom she married in 1972.
Adams became interested in radiology while working as medical registrar at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge. She then moved to Manchester being appointed lecturer in the Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Manchester in 1976 and a senior registrar (radiology) at MRI. Adams continued working at MRI and became Honorary Consultant and Professor of Diagnostic Radiology at the University of Manchester. Adams' principal research interest was in bone densitometry.
A Fellow of Manchester Medical Society , Adams was president of Manchester Medical Society and was also Vice-President of the Royal College of Radiologists from 1994-1995. She published extensively on medical imaging.