Dr Parraga completed her BSc (Hon) and MSc in Biochemistry at The University of Western Ontario. She trained with Dr Rachel E Klevit in Seattle and completed her PhD in Dr Klevit's lab in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Washington. Her thesis work was published in Science, PNAS and Methods in Enzymology. After completing post-doctoral studies at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, (Switzerland), she joined F. Hoffman La Roche AG as a Scientist in Pharma Research and Development. In 2004, she returned to academic research at Robarts Research Institute, The University of Western Ontario.

Her current research has been published in Circulation, Radiology, Thorax, Medical Physics, New England Journal of Medicine and the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. She currently holds a CIHR New Investigator Award and leads the Imaging platform of the Canadian Respiratory Research Network, recently funded by CIHR. Dr Parraga also Co-Chairs with Dr Teresa To, the Canadian Lung Association RENASCENT Training and Mentorship Committee that is generating a training framework for respiratory research training across Canada.

Dr Parraga is Professor (with tenure) in the Department of Medical Biophysics, Western University and is also appointed in the Departments of Medicine, Oncology and the School of Biomedical Engineering at Western. She is adjunct Professor in Physics at Dalhousie University. Ongoing pulmonary research funding is provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, CIHR Operating, Network and Team Grants.