Gerlai obtained his PhD in 1987 from the Eötvös Loránd University and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest.^{[citation needed]}

Gerlai has worked in the biotechnology (Genentech) and biopharmaceutical research industries (Eli Lilly and Company and Saegis Pharmaceuticals) as Senior Scientist and Vice President of Research, and led pre-clinical as well as clinical research teams developing drugs to treat mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's Disease. He also worked at different universities in North America and Europe. He is a Distinguished Professor of behavioral neuroscience at the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto.^[1]

The Web of Science lists over 340 peer-reviewed publications for Gerlai, which have been cited over 17500 times, resulting in an h-index of 68.^[2] Gerlai has worked with several different animal species, including paradise fish and mice. He was among the first to use transgenic mice in the analysis of learning and memory^{[citation needed]} and showed that astrocytes play important roles in synaptic plasticity. He is also known for discovering the role of Eph tyrosine kinases and their ephrin ligands in neuronal plasticity.^{[citation needed]} He is considered a leader^{[citation needed]} of zebrafish behavioral neuroscience research, and has been using this species, and studies the effects of alcohol on brain function and behaviour, including social behaviour, fear-anxiety, and learning and memory.^[1][3]

Gerlai is an elected Fellow of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society, of which he also has been president.^[4] He is a member of the editorial boards of Biology,^[5] Genes, Brain and Behavior,^[6] Neurotoxicology and Teratology,^[7] Behavioral and Brain Functions,^[8] Learning and Behavior,^[9] Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Zebrafish, and F1000. He is section editor for behavioral neuroscience of BMC Neuroscience.^[10] In 2013, Gerlai received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.^[11] In 2015, he received the Research Excellence Award from the University of Toronto.^[12] In 2019 he received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society.^[13] In 2019 and again in 2024, he received the 5-year John Carlin Roder Distinguished Professorship in Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of Toronto Mississauga.^[14][15] In 2023, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.^{[citation needed]}

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