 She chose to further her education at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with doctoral advisor, James Morin, studying functional morphology and comparative physiology while working as a teaching assistant/fellow.Her graduate research took her to the central Philippines to study the relationship between bioluminescent bacteria found in the leiognathid light organ in fish, igniting her “lifelong interest” in the blend of the two subjects.McFall-Ngai graduated with her Ph.D. in Biology in 1983 and went on to complete two postdoctoral fellowships.