Rate My Professor Jennifer Gerlach

Jennifer K. Gerlach, MD, is an Associate Professor of General Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. Originally from Point Pleasant, West Virginia, she completed her B.S. in Biochemistry at Marshall University in 2007 as a Yeager Scholar. She earned her M.D. from the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine in 2011 and finished her Pediatrics residency there from 2011 to 2014, earning the Best Resident Teacher Award in both 2012 and 2013. Dr. Gerlach joined the Pediatrics faculty in September 2014 and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Medical Education, where she serves as Assistant Dean for Clerkship Curriculum and Assistant Dean of Longitudinal Curriculum. She chaired the Faculty Council from 2019 to 2020, received the Excellence in Service faculty award in 2020, and participates in the Curriculum Committee and Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

Board-certified by the American Board of Pediatrics, Dr. Gerlach practices general pediatrics at University Pediatrics in Huntington, West Virginia. In July 2021, she was appointed pediatric medical consultant for the West Virginia Children’s Health Insurance Program (WVCHIP). A member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics, she serves as President of the West Virginia Chapter from 2024 to 2026. Her advocacy work includes leading a successful veto campaign against a school immunization bill, detailed in a 2025 Pediatrics publication co-authored by her. She also co-authored a 2019 Global Pediatric Health article on antibiotic prescriptions for upper respiratory infections. Dr. Gerlach engages in community education through events like Walk with a Doc on immunizations and has a clinical interest in caring for children on the autism spectrum. She lives in Huntington with her husband and four children.