Marla Hamberger completed her undergraduate studies at Cornell University, and earned her Masters and Doctorate from the City University of New York. After completing her internship in Neuropsychology in the Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, she obtained postdoctoral training at UCLA, specializing in the neuropsychology of epilepsy.

She has been with the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Neurological Institute of New York, Columbia University Medical Center since 1992, where she is the Director of Neuropsychological Services within the Epilepsy Division, and holds the position of Professor of Neuropsychology in the Department of Neurology at Columbia University.