Dr. Macrakis, is a historian of science and of espionage. Her research interests include the politics of techno-science, science in Nazi Germany and Post-War Germany, Cold War espionage including the East German Ministry for State Security. She is currently writing a book on the history of invisible ink from ancient to modern times.

Her books include: Surviving the Swastika (Oxford, 1993), Science under Socialism (Harvard, 1999), Seduced by Secrets (Cambridge, 2008 [A History Book Club featured selection, translations include German (Herbig, 2009) and Slovak (IKAR, 2010)] and East German Foreign Intelligence (Routledge, 2009).

She is the recipient of numerous awards including grants from the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, the National Science Foundation, the Humboldt Foundation, and Fulbright.