She received her undergraduate degree in Nursing from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and her Master of Science in Advanced Pediatric Nursing from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Her doctorate was from the University of Maryland, Baltimore in Nursing and Neurophysiology. While at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, she completed her doctoral work in the laboratory of Anesthesia/ Critical Care Medicine and her postdoctoral research in the Developmental Genetics Laboratory/Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Agnew's current research focuses on the derivation of neural precursors from human embryonic stem cells and transplantation of these cells in the neonatal mouse pup following ischemic brain injury and paralysis.