Professor Gerlai received his Ph.D. from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences with the highest distinction in 1989.  He held academic positions in Europe and North America (Eötvös Univ Budapest, Mt Sinai Hosp Res Inst Toronto, IUPUI, Univ Hawaii), and leadership positions in the US biotech and biopharma research industry working as a senior research scientist and Vice President (Genentech Inc., Eli Lilly & Co., Saegis Pharma) before joining UTM in 2004, where he is currently distinguished professor at the Dept Psychology.

Gerlai has published over 350 papers in peer reviewed scientific journals with a cumulative citation number over 25,000 and an H index of 83.  He is Editor-in-Chief of the Springer-Nature journal Behavioral and Brain Functions, edited 4 books, and is member of editorial boards and section or associate editor of 11 peer reviewed scientific journals. He held leadership positions at and is founding member of IBANGS, and he is fellow and past president of IBNS. He is the recipient of the North American IQ Consortium/AAALAC International Global 3Rs Award for his pioneering work on ethical use of animals in research, was awarded the Distinguished Scientist Award from IBANGS, the Outstanding Achievement Award from IBNS, the John Wiley Distinguished Speaker Award from ISDP, and the Excellence in Research Award from UTM. Gerlai’s research combines psychology, genetics, neuroscience to study mechanisms of complex behavioural functions and brain disorders with a model organism, the zebrafish

He has been serving UTM and the University in numerous ways, including being the chair of Local Animal Care Committees (LACC), Associate Chair of the Department of Psychology, and chair of the Campus Affairs Committee.