Dr Jess Gerber treating an acupuncture patient

About Jess

Jess' Story

Back in 2000, I was a stressed-out manufacturing engineer with a myriad of bad habits (drinking, smoking) and a list of health-related issues. Overweight and struggling, I was crying in my hairdresser’s chair, and she referred me to an acupuncturist! It took about a year, but I slowly started to make positive lifestyle changes, and acupuncture sessions were the catalyst to a better me! After the 9/11 attacks, I re-considered what I wanted out of life and decided to enroll in the Masters’ program at New England School of Acupuncture. That is how I got started helping people!

Dr Jess Gerber in convertible with surfboard
Dr Jess Gerber

I have worked in both private clinics and hospitals as an acupuncturist since 2009. A new resident of the South Shore (Humarock), my 2023 New Year’s resolution was to be more active in my community. I fell in love with Be Well Studios in Scituate the moment I stepped foot into the Mill Wharf space and just had to relocate Happy Wave Acupuncture there. I love living and working in this community and I am so excited to establish myself as a small business owner in Scituate.

 

Biography

Jess has been a Licensed Acupuncturist in the state of Massachusetts and an NCCAOM National Board-Certified Acupuncturist since March 2009. She takes a whole-person, evidence-informed approach to her treatments. Her style is compassionate yet deliberate. She utilizes adjunctive techniques such as cupping and gua sha in addition to incorporating the Emotion Code® and Body Code® techniques. Some patients may benefit from the use of Dolphin Neurostim and vagal nerve toning. No two patients are the same, so she customizes all sessions to incorporate what the patient needs, when the patient needs it.

Jess initially studied acupuncture at the New England School of Acupuncture (NESA) where she received a dual Masters’ degree from the Tufts University School of Medicine MPH Program. She received her Doctorate of Acupuncture in April 2020 from Pacific College of Health and Science.

Additionally, Jess is the Program Director for the MGH Alzheimer’s Clinical Translational Research Unit and the MGH Interdisciplinary Brain Center, and the Director of Research Operations for a MGH Research Core. As a research acupuncturist at MGH, she performs acupuncture research protocols both inside and outside the MRI scanner. She is a co-author on over 25 peer reviewed journal articles. She is also Adjunct Faculty at NESA and teaches research design to doctorate level acupuncture students.

With over 15 years’ experience as an acupuncture clinician and over 12 years’ experience in the field of research, Jess has found a happy balance between being an acupuncturist and an investigator. Previous practice locations have included Copley Square, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)- Cancer Center, the Brigham and Women’s Hospital- Pain Medicine Center and Quincy.

A New Jersey native, she has resided in Massachusetts since 1991, her freshman year at Northeastern University. She now lives in Marshfield within walking distance to Humarock. When not working she can be found in the ocean training for marathon swims or playing around on a surfboard in Hull.

Publications

I am very lucky to be employed by Massachusetts General Hospital as a supervising research acupuncturist. The very first acupuncture clinical trial protocol I worked on for Dr. Vitaly Napadow, PhD investigated acupuncture’s positive effect on carpal tunnel syndrome as measured by an MRI of the brain. We were published in the peer-reviewed journal Brain and summaries of our research were highlighted in TIME, The New York Times and many other news outlets including National Geographic and Yahoo! Science.