Gardner Biography (short)

Originally from North Carolina, Dr. Gardner is the daughter of Columbus and Doris Gardner. She received her BS and MD degrees at The University of NC at Chapel Hill. She then completed her residency and chief residency in Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta Georgia.  She later received an Executive MBA at Brandeis University.

After 3 years in private practice, Dr. Gardner returned to Emory SOM as faculty in the Department of Pediatrics faculty where she served for almost 18 years. She was the first Associate Director of the Pediatrics Residency Program at Emory School of Medicine; a position she held for 13 years and then had the honor of serving as Director of the Pediatrics Residency Program at Morehouse School of Medicine for 7 years. In January 2022, she was appointed Interim Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Morehouse School of Medicine and was named permanent Chair in July 2023.  

Nationally, she has served as co-chair of the Associate Program Directors Special Interest Group and on the Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While with the CDC, she chaired a workgroup that wrote the National CDC statement on Educational Assessments for Children Affected by Lead.

Administratively, she has served as Medical Staff President, Hospital Board Member and Member of the Medical Executive Committee for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. She currently serves on several leadership committees at Morehouse School of Medicine.

Dr. Gardner co-founded a non-profit organization called Exceeding The Mark Inc. The organization provides quality, low-cost tutoring services for children from low- and middle-income families. For the past 14 years, she has served as director of world missions at Kingdom Investment Ministry in Tucker Georgia.

She currently resides in Stone Mountain Georgia.