Instructor
Massachusetts General Hospital
Dr. Merner is a Research Scientist in the Department of Neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Instructor at Harvard Medical School. She received her doctorate in experimental psychology, specializing in affective neuroscience, from Case Western Reserve University. During her graduate training, she conducted research at the Center for Neurological Restoration at Cleveland Clinic, where she studied cognitive and emotional changes in patients who underwent DBS for neuropsychiatric conditions. Dr. Merner completed her postdoctoral research fellowship in neuroethics in the Brain Bioethics Lab within the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. There, she integrated her training in psychology, neuroscience, and neuromodulation to inform her neuroethics research. Dr. Merner’s current work focuses on the ethical, legal, social, and clinical implications of emerging genomic and neural technologies in psychiatry. She pursues three primary lines of research:
1. Examining the impacts of DBS and other neuromodulation techniques on patients with neuropsychiatric conditions, as well as the post-trial obligations for participants in early-stage DBS trials for treatment-resistant psychiatric conditions.
2. Investigating the potential impacts of integrating novel genomic technologies—particularly polygenic risk scores—into psychiatric and surgical care, with an emphasis on responsible management of genetic testing in psychiatry.
3. Developing outcome metrics that are centered on patients' values and functional goals to ensure researchers and clinicians are measuring what is most meaningful to patients and their care partners.
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