Dockser Marcus was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, where she attended and graduated from Harvard University for her Bachelor of Arts degree.

[2] Upon receiving her undergraduate degree, Dockser Marcus began working as a fact checker for the American Lawyer under the guidance of Steve Adler.

[6] She earned the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting for "her masterful stories about patients, families and physicians that illuminated the often unseen world of cancer survivors.

[1] In 2009, Dockser Marcus and Maryn McKenna received Ochberg Fellowships, awarded to "mid-career journalists who have covered issues ranging from street crime, family violence and natural disasters to war and genocide.

[8] /> In 2023, Dockser Marcus completed a decade of engagement with a parent-scientist community working to make progress in finding a cure for a rare and fatal disease, Niemann-Pick disease type C. Her work with this community culminated in 2023 when Dockser Marcus published her third book "We The Scientists" with Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House.