[1][2] Hallem is Professor and Vice Chair of Graduate Studies in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics at UCLA.

[3] Her lab focuses on the ability for skin-penetrating nematodes to infect host organisms using their sensory cues.

In 8th grade she enrolled in a summer program run by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth where she followed a course in psychology held at the Loyola Marymount University at Los Angeles.

During high school, she worked in a UCLA lab with professor S. Lawrence Zipursky, a family friend.

[citation needed] Hallem graduated from Williams College with a B.A.