Prior to her current appointment, she was an assistant professor of economics at Indiana University in Bloomington and a post-doctoral research fellow at Princeton University. Her research focuses on issues related to families and health. Current projects include studying prenatal smoking and alcohol exposure, childhood obesity, child support enforcement policies, domestic violence, Medicaid take-up, public housing, and homelessness. Professor Fertig received her Ph.D. in economics from Brown University in 2001.