Bachelor's Degree in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Cordoba (2008-2014). During this 6-year period, she was awarded a placement on an exchange programme at Virginia Commonwealth University Hospital in Richmond, Virginia (USA) in the Pediatrics Emergency Department and an Erasmus programme at Medizinische Innsbruck, Austria.

She is a specialist in Psychiatry from the Dr Rodriguez Lafora Hospital of Madrid (2017-2021). She has done a Master's Degree in psychopharmacology at the University of Valencia and a basic training course in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Spanish Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy.

In 2021, she was awarded a placement on a two-year Advanced Training from the Alicia Koplowitz Foundation at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London. Since then, she has been involved in both clinical and research activities, working as an Honorary Specialist Registrar in Child at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and a researcher of the Brain, Immunity and Psychopathology following very Preterm birth (BIPP) Study, led by Professor Chiara Nosarti. Her research focuses on verifying the clinical diagnoses from the Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA) which is a package of interviews, questionnaires and rating techniques designed to generate ICD-10 and DSM-IV or DSM-V psychiatric diagnoses on patients aged 2-17 years old.

Moreover, she is involved in the academic activities of the Maudsley Training Programme in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and has completed several advanced training courses such as Autism Diagnostic Observational Schedule–2 (ADOS-2), Mentalization-Based Treatment for Children: A Time-Limited Approach (MBT-C), Mentalization-Based Treatment for Adolescents: A Time-Limited Approach (MBT-A), DBT Skills Training - Essentials and DBT Skills Training - Enhanced.

Currently, Dr Macarena Franco is involved in the psychiatric evaluation of children studied as part of BIPP and is a co-rater in a systematic review focusing on autism diagnostic tools. She was also involved in a study entitled “The impact of lockdown on Child and Adolescent Mental Health: A systematic review”.