Dr. Bernd received an A.B. Degree in Biology from Colgate University in 1975 and a PhD Degree in Anatomy from Columbia University in 1980. Her thesis work was done under the guidance of Dr. Michael Gershon and the project involved the mechanisms of serotonin storage in the thyroid gland. Dr. Bernd completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Lloyd Greene at New York University from 1980 to 1982, where she began studying nerve growth factor's role in development. In 1982, she became Assistant Professor in the Development of Anatomy at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and moved to her current position in 1987. Dr. Bernd has continued to work on nerve growth factor and has investigated its role, as well as that of other neurotrophic factors, in the development of the neural crest and several peripheral ganglia, including the dorsal root ganglia, the sympathetic ganglia, and the cochlear and vestibular ganglia of the inner ear. Her research is being supported, or has been supported, by the National Science Foundation, the American Heart Association, the Rosenfeld Heart Foundation, the Dysautonomia Foundation, the Deafness Research Foundation, the American Hearing Research Foundation and the Foundation for Otolaryngologic Education and Research.
