MacIntyre's work is focused on emerging infections, encompassing vaccines, personal protective equipment, aerosol dynamics, respiratory pathogen transmission, and the detection and prevention of bioterrorism.
After completing her PhD under Aileen Plant, MacIntyre was awarded a Harkness Fellowship to Johns Hopkins University.
[7] In Australia, MacIntyre became "a familiar face on television and radio" during the Covid-19 pandemic, her epidemiological commentary "calmly delivered from her bedroom, where she continues her research almost around the clock".
[7] MacIntyre has been a regular commentator and contributor to Covid epidemiology, in The Guardian,[9] The Sydney Morning Herald,[3][10] as well as ABC News[11] and Q+A.
Due to the frequent media appearances, she caught Black's fancy and the artist "set her heart on painting the professor for the Archibald Prize".