Brunet received her PhD in biology in 1997 from Université de Nice, France and completed postdoctoral training in Michael E. Greenberg's lab at Harvard Medical School. Her honors include an award from the Human Frontier Science Program and the Goldenson-Berenberg Fellowship for postdoctoral training. In 2003, she received the Prix L. LaCaze et A. Policart-Lacassagne for junior scientists from the French National Academy of Sciences.