Dr. Bainton is emeritus professor of pathology at the University of California, San Francisco. She also served as the vice chancellor for Academic Affairs until July 2004. Her honors and awards include elected membership in the Institute of Medicine; recipient of the Tulane Medical School Outstanding Alumnus Award, 1993; Career Recognition Award, Women in Cell Biology, 1989; and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Merit Award, 1986. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has published numerous articles and is a member of editorial boards including: Comparative Haematology International, American Journal of Pathology, and Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine.

She received a M.D. from Tulane School of Medicine, 1958 and a M.S. in Pathology from the University of California, San Francisco, 1966.