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Roseann E. Peterson, PhD
Roseann E. Peterson, PhD
Dr. Peterson is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the State University of New York Downstate Health Sciences University (SUNY Downstate) and is a psychiatric statistical geneticist versed in population-scale genetic studies applied to genome-wide association studies, polygenic risk profiling, and fine-mapping analyses.
She serves in several leadership roles and is the Chair of the PsycheMERGE Diversity Initiative, Co-Chair of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Cross-Population Working Group, and Associate Director of Statistical Genetics in the Institute for Genomics in Health (IGC) at SUNY Downstate.
She also has a special interest in ethics in research and policy and serves on the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access committee of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics and is the Director of Education in Research Ethics and Scientific Integrity in the Office of the Senior Vice President of Research at SUNY Downstate.
Background / Early Life
Background / Early Life
Dr. Peterson was born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her mom was a high school social studies teacher and her dad was in social work for the county. Dr. Peterson attended the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis as a double major in biology & psychology with a minor in chemistry. She received her PhD from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Research Work
Research Work
Dr. Peterson's lab, POP-GEM, studies the interaction of genes and environment and their associations with mental health (risk and resilience). They have a particular focus on improving representation in our genetic studies so that results are relevant across all ancestral populations towards improving health equity.
Among their current projects are, "Cross-Population Working Group on Genes and Environment in Major Depression," "PsycheMERGE Diversity Initiative," and "Cross Ancestry GWAS for Major Depression in College Students."
With Dr. Peterson's strong interest in research ethics, she recently presented at the World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics in Florence, Italy.
The Road to Her Research Path
The Road to Her Research Path
When asked about her inspiration for this type of research, Dr. Peterson recalls her undergraduate studies as the turning point.
Her interest in Psychology in college continued to grow as she discovered a niche that resonated with her. One class in particular, Behavior Genetics, piqued her interest and she has been hooked ever since. After working as a research coordinator at the University of MN, Dr. Peterson pursued an advanced degree in Human and Molecular Genetics at Virginia Commonwealth University where she was able to bridge her interest in Biology and Psychology at the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics.
The road to research is not one without obstacles, and Dr. Peterson believes time management is one of the keys to succeed, specifically, prioritizing time for writing. In the POP-GEN lab, they create semester strategic plans making sure to take time for oneself outside of work. They work as a team to support each other in reaching their goals.
"I kept taking psychology classes in undergrad because they were so interesting and ‘accidentally’ took enough credits to also major in it."
"I kept taking psychology classes in undergrad because they were so interesting and ‘accidentally’ took enough credits to also major in it."
In her free time, Dr. Peterson enjoys exploring new places and doing activities in nature, such as kayaking, hiking. Pictured above, is Dr. Peterson hiking in Mt. San Jacinto State Park (right) and Yosemite (left).
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