Dr. Gertler completed her undergraduate degree in molecular biology and neuroscience at Princeton University, her medical school degree at Northwestern University Feinberg school of medicine, her graduate degree studying neuromodulation in altered dopamingeric states in the basal ganglia at Northwestern University in the lab of Dr. D. James Surmeier, and her pediatrics/child neurology residency at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago.

The goal of my basic science research is to understand the mechanisms by which genetic ion channel variants identified in patients with early-onset epilepsy translate to altered channel biophysics when isolated in an expression system, to abnormal intrinsic neuronal excitability when studied in patient-derived neurons (made from induced pluripotent stem cell lines), and to circuit-level disruption resulting in epileptogenesis in transgenic animal models. This three-pronged approach shares a common pathophysiologic protein, and is intended to identify new therapeutic targets by complementary ion channel, neuronal, and synaptic modulation.

My clinical time is split between inpatient attending on the general neurology service, and a dedicated outpatient general neurology/neurogenetics clinic increasingly focused on patients with new-onset genetic epilepsy, epilepsy with multiple family members affected, chromosomal abnormalities including CNVs complicated by epilepsy, and genetic variants of unknown significance requiring careful consideration of rational therapies and integration of translational bench-bedside research approaches.