She specializes in the intersection of law and creativity and has written leading articles in trademark and copyright law, art law, false advertising and plagiarism. With West Publishing, she recently co-authored its first bridge to practice contracts text. She received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon foundation to support research to clarify whether art and historical documents are protected by copyright or exist in the public domain. In 2015, Gerhardt was invited to participate in the Chancellor’s Faculty Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, where she led her team to win the pitch competition. Also in 2015, she was selected by the Advertising Educational Foundation for a fellowship in its visiting professor program. She is the first person whom J. Walter Thompson, the world’s largest advertising agency, has sponsored for a fellowship.