Dr. Ryan received her Ph.D. in Endocrinology at the Medical College of Georgia. Her postdoctoral fellowship was at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She was on the faculty at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston, Texas. Her research focused on receptors and the mechanism of hormone action. In addition to her medical interests, she studied the financial aspects of health care. She has taught financial, cost and governmental accounting and at local colleges.

For the past 15 years she has been with the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, where she has served in Medicaid and Medicare programs, including reimbursement and state financing, program integrity and fee-for-service payment programs. She is currently in the Center for Medicare, Chronic Care Policy Group, where she is the Deputy Director in the Division of Chronic Care Management, heading up the End-Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System program.

She and her husband, Jeff Kuhns, reside in Southwest Florida.