About Beate Peter

Beate Peter, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, joined the faculty in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science at Arizona State University as Assistant Professor in 2014. Prior to joining ASU, she was Research Assistant Professor in the University of Washington's Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences. Since 2012, she has been teaching an introductory clinical genetics course for graduate students in speech-language pathology at Saint Louis University, which led to her appointment there as Adjunct Assistant Professor.

Dr. Peter earned a master's degree in speech-language pathology and a Ph.D. in speech and hearing sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, both under the mentorship of Carol Stoel-Gammon, Ph.D. Following three years as a practicing speech-language pathologist in the Shoreline (WA) School District, she accepted a postdoctoral trainee position in medical genetics at the University of Washington under the mentorship of Wendy Raskind, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine. During this time, Dr. Peter completed the Graduate Certificate in Statistical Genetics in the Department of Biostatistics. At ASU, her research focuses on the genetic etiologies of disorders of spoken and written language.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of investigating genotype-phenotype associations in communication disorders is the opportunity to use this knowledge clinically to improve outcomes. At ASU, Dr. Peter and her lab team launched the Babble Boot Camp, a clinical trial of preventive interventions for infants at known genetic risk for severe speech and language disorders. The pilot cohort consists of very young children with classic galactosemia, and in the Babble Boot Camp, they receive parent-mediated help with - yes! - cooing, babble, first words, vocabulary development, and expressive language. First results are encouraging, and we just launched a fully powered clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health. You can read about this project here: https://f1000research.com/articles/8-271

Dr. Peter has an active interest in genetics education. She developed and regularly teaches an introductory course in genetics for speech-language pathology graduate students at Saint Louis University, where she is now adjunct faculty. Together with her colleagues at the American Society of Human Genetics and The Jackson Laboratory (Peter, Dougherty, Edelman & Hanson, 2019), she published a survey of over 500 speech-language pathologists and audiologists whose message was crystal clear: Knowledge of genetics is highly relevant for our clinical practice, but we need more training in genetics! At ASU, she created the Ph.D. concentration in Translational Genetics of Communication Abilities (TGCA). She also created an introductory course in clinical genetics for the clinical professions (SHS 598 Molecules, Markers, Management), taught in Fall semester of odd years, and she has presented many workshops and seminars on this topic.

At ASU, Dr. Peter co-developed the new M.S. program in Auditory and Language Neuroscience, initiated and leads a faculty group toward a Behavior Genomics initiative, and initiated and co-develops an online Certificate in Clinical Genetics for Health Professionals.

Dr. Peter's CV lists 25 peer-reviewed papers in journals specializing in clinical linguistics, genetics, and neuroscience, 46 conference abstracts, one book, seven book chapters, and countless invited talks and workshops.