Born and raised in Bahrain's capital Manama, al-Gasseer was educated at a local secondary school for girls. In 1982, she earned a Bachelor's degree in Nursing Sciences from the American University of Beirut at the time of the civil war in Lebanon. In 1987, she received her MSc in Nursing Sciences (Nurse-Midwifery) from the University of Illiois at Chicago, USA, where she also earned her PhD in Nursing, with specialization in Women's Health, in 1990.