She was a senior scientist at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England,[4] where she worked, and later studied for her PhD[5] under the supervision of Nobel laureate Aaron Klug.

Continuing her work under the tutelage of Aaron Klug at Cambridge, she was appointed group leader in 1983, obtained tenure in 1987 and was promoted to senior scientist in 1994 (equivalent to full professor).

She has also been visiting professor at both "La Sapienza" in Rome, Italy and the Rockefeller University in NY, USA.

[6][7][8][9][10] Daniela Rhodes has made many fundamental contributions to understanding the structure and function of nucleic acids and their biologically important interactions with many different proteins.

She determined the structures of a number of important protein-DNA complexes involved in transcription, such as zinc-fingers and nuclear hormone receptors.