Getting to Know Karen Gerlach, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Learning is the throughline in Dr. Karen Gerlach’s career and life. Whether she’s on the road to consult with a client or at home reading a good biography, the Womble Bond Dickinson regulatory scientist never stops learning.

Recently, she shared some thoughts on her journey, which includes experiences both as a laboratory scientist and public health researcher.

You have an extensive background in science and medicine. What did you do before coming to Womble?

My educational background is in the hard sciences. I have a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology. I did a lot of lab-based work, then went into public health, getting my master’s in public health and working in the cancer prevention area. I started doing a lot of work in the tobacco control field, both looking at the problem and finding solutions. I also did a lot of policy work, examining policy factors that make people more or less likely to smoke.

Eventually, I transitioned into working in the pharmaceutical industry. I’ve done a lot of post-market surveillance work for quite a few pharmaceutical companies.

How did you get interested in these particular areas of interest?

For most people, it’s either fortuitous—they happened upon it—or something pushed them in that direction. When I was in grad school, I was working on the hepatitis B virus, which causes liver cancer. My father was diagnosed with a type of cancer that didn’t have a vaccine to prevent, and that’s what shaped my focus. It seemed like a better way to use my skills in the cancer prevention area, rather than studying a cancer that was easily preventable with a vaccine. That’s what took me down the cancer prevention path.

What do you do as part of the Medical & Scientific Solutions Team? How do you apply your skills and knowledge to work for clients?

The way I think about it is all the experiences I had taught me how to think strategically. We see a client’s problem and think through different ways to find a solution to that problem. Maybe there are three routes to get to a solution—which one or two are the best ways to go? How do I apply the science I have to achieve the goal the client wants, with the time they have and the budget they have?

When you first joined Womble, what was the biggest challenge of working at a law firm? And how did you adjust?

For me, it was an easy transition to Womble. I’d been working with some of the people I now work with at Womble. So I knew them and their ethical standards.

The biggest challenge as a scientist is learning the language of a law firm. We cover so many different areas of law. Every professional area has its own lingo. If I don’t know, I’ll ask.

Tell us a bit about your life outside of the office. What do you like to do when you aren’t at work?

I’m a homebody. But I get my exercise in every day, and I love to read, particularly about people’s lives. You learn a lot from other people that way.

Is there anything else you want to add?

The combination our team has—the scientists and the attorneys we work with—is a good pairing of different skills. It brings a lot to what the firm can offer. We’re able to offer answers that most firms would need an outside consultant to help with but that we have in-house—our clients benefit from that, too.

Want to learn more? Visit Womble Bond Dickinson’s Medical and Scientific Solutions team page.