She is a senior investigator and head of the molecular mechanisms in development section at the National Cancer Institute.

Her thesis work investigated oncogene cooperation in leukemia cells and revealed their coordinate induction of an essential autocrine growth factor.

[1] Her 1991 thesis was titled, Mechanismus der Aktivierung von cMGF-Produktion durch Kinasen in Transformierten Myeloiden Zellen.

Sterneck began to study the functions of CCAAT-enhancer-binding proteins (C/EBP) transcription factors, including their roles in normal mammary gland development, through genetically engineered mice.

[1] Sterneck began her independent research with an NCI-Scholar grant before being recruited as a principal investigator to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 2003.