During the COVID-19 pandemic, she became a "household name" in Australia, regularly providing public information and advice on the disease.

She and her elder brother spent their early years with their mother in Bondi, New South Wales, before moving to the Central Coast where she attended Gosford High School.

[2] Her early research also included a 1995 study on HIV/AIDS in Australia, which examined women who had acquired HIV from their male sexual partners.

[3][12] McLaws was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours, for "distinguished service to medical research, particularly to epidemiology and infection prevention, to tertiary education, and to health administration".

[1] In June 2023, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies hosted a reception in her honour at Emanuel Synagogue.