Dr. Mary Jane de Carvalho grew up in Sao Paulo, Brazil and attended high school in Tucson Arizona.
In 1955, Dr. de Carvalho received a B.S. in biology from Roanoke College and she earned her M.D. in 1959 from the Medical College of Virginia. She completed her internship and residency in Los Angeles, where she specialized in anesthesiology.
For the next 26 years, she maintained a private practice in California. In 1989, she gave up her private practice to work as chief of anesthesiology at the El Monte Comprehensive Health Center, a service of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. There, she worked mostly with underprivileged children and with needy Mexican Americans. She also served on the faculty of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center as assistant professor of clinical anesthesiology.
Dr. de Carvalho was a volunteer and supporter of the Richstone Family Center in California, a center established to prevent and treat child abuse, and for many years volunteered her medical skills to the disadvantaged in Baja California, Mexico.
Mary Jane de Carvalho received the Roanoke College Medal in 2000.