She was born in
Walnut Creek, California, into an observant Jewish and fourth-generation
deaf family, the daughter of Ron Stern and Hedy Marilyn Stern (née Udkovich), and the sister of writer and artist
Louise Stern and former Gallaudet men's basketball coach and current political scientist Brendan Stern. Stern got her first regular series role as Holly Brodeen, a member of an elite government anti-terrorist task force in
ABC's
Threat Matrix. The role was created for her by the show's producers after a director who had worked with her on
The Division recommended her. She had a recurring role in
Showtime's
Weeds (as Megan Beals-Botwin) and was also on
ER,
Providence and
Cold Case. She played
Bonnie Richmond in the
CBS post-apocalyptic drama
Jericho. She had a recurring role in Season 3 of
Fox's
Lie to Me. Stern appeared with
Matthew Broderick in the film
The Last Shot and starred in the film
Adventures of Power. She also appeared in the popular music video "
Yes We Can", written by
will.i.am for the
Barack Obama campaign. Her 2020 role on ''
Grey's Anatomy'' is the first recurring deaf doctor role on a prime time television network show. She also played the recurring character Eileen Leahy on the CW show
Supernatural. She is also set to write the episode "Tuklo" of the
Hawkeye spin-off series
Echo, set in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe starring
Alaqua Cox. In 2025, Stern made her directorial debut with
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, a documentary revolving around actress
Marlee Matlin, which will have its world premiere at the
2025 Sundance Film Festival. ==Filmography==