Glenn Gerhard, MD, Appointed Chair of New Department of Medical Genetics and Molecular Biochemistry at Temple University School of Medicine
Glenn S. Gerhard, MD, has been appointed Chair of the new Department of Medical Genetics and Molecular Biochemistry, and the inaugural holder of the Joseph and Rebecca Goodfriend Endowed Chair in Genetics at Temple University School of Medicine, effective December 1. Dr. Gerhard previously served as Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine & Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State College of Medicine. He also served as Co-Director of the Penn State College of Medicine Institute for Personalized Medicine.
The new department, Dr. Gerhard’s appointment as its Chair, and the establishment of a newly-endowed Chair in Genetics create a vibrant research infrastructure at Temple University School of Medicine that is focused specifically on understanding how genetics play a role in disease development.
The rapidly-evolving field of genomic medicine, also referred to as “personalized medicine,” uses a person’s own genetic information to predict diseases they are likely to face and how they will react to specific drugs and treatments – allowing researchers to discover genetic markers associated with various diseases and enabling clinicians to make medical diagnosis more precise, pinpoint the best treatments for each individual, and prescribe interventions that could enable them to avoid the disease altogether.
“Dr. Gerhard is an outstanding choice to spearhead Temple’s Department of Medical Genetics and Molecular Biochemistry,” said Larry R. Kaiser, MD, FACS, Dean of Temple University School of Medicine, President and CEO of Temple University Health System, and Senior Executive Vice President for Health Sciences at Temple University. “Pursuing the promise of medical genetics provides an exciting opportunity for Temple researchers and clinicians to accelerate discovery of cutting-edge approaches to genomic transformation, improve the care of patients, and advance the health of the community in ways that were only dreamed of just a few years ago. We are pleased that Dr. Gerhard will be leading this effort.”
Board-certified in Clinical Pathology, Dr. Gerhard is a Phi Betta Kappa graduate of Penn State University and the Penn State University College of Medicine. He received postdoctoral training in Cellular and Molecular Biology of Aging at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, followed by additional postdoctoral training in the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Gerhard was a resident in both Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, later joining the faculty there as Medical Director of the Molecular Genetic Diagnostics Laboratory. Following relocation of his laboratory to the Weis Center for Research at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA, he served as a Staff and Senior Scientist and Medical and System-Wide Director of the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory.
Dr. Gerhard has been published extensively in high-impact journals and his expertise in the field of genetics is widely recognized. He has been a leader in developing biorepositories, databases, and novel model systems for translational genomics research and implementing genomic medicine into clinical care. He is a member of numerous NIH study sections – including a Special Emphasis Panel for Clinical Studies of Genetic Susceptibility to Disease – and his research has earned significant grant funding from the NIH, the Veterans Administration, the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, the National Organization for Rare Disorders, and the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.
Dr. Gerhard is presently funded for studies that focus on genetic determinants of weight loss and resolution of co-morbidities in extreme obesity; genetic determinants of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) severity and progression; and multidisciplinary research approaches to understanding the impact of obesity, nutrition and aging on the development of chronic disease.