Professional Background

Professor Peterson received his undergraduate training at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff where he received a B.S. degree in Microbiology and Chemistry in 1979. He received a M.S. in Microbiology and Biochemistry in 1981. In 1987, Professor Peterson completed his Ph.D. degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Arizona, Tucson. From 1987 to 1990, he received postdoctoral training in molecular evolution at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Additional postdoctoral training in human genetics and molecular biology was obtained at University of Washington, Seattle. In 1992, Professor Peterson was appointed as a Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Medicine at the University of Washington. He was promoted to Research Associate Professor in 1996. In 1998 Dr. Peterson moved to the University of Kansas Medical Center as an Associate Professor and was promoted to the position of Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2003. In 2003, he also was appointed Vice Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Professor Peterson is internationally recognized for his novel and innovative scientific achievements in the field of developmental genetics, gene regulation and epigenetics. His laboratory is actively investigating mechanisms underlying the control of hemoglobin synthesis and blood cell formation.

For the past 26 years, Professor Peterson’s research has been supported largely by the NIH and has resulted in the publication of 103 manuscripts. Dr. Peterson has served on NIH Study Sections and as a reviewer for numerous journals. He has been honored with a Madison and Lila Self Graduate Fellowship Faculty Scholar Award for research and mentoring in 2001, recognized for his research on globin gene switching by the University of Kansas School of Medicine with a Faculty Investigator Research Award in 2003 and the Chancellor’s Club Research Award in 2015, and named a Fulbright Scholar in 2009. Professor Peterson has also directly supervised the training of both postdoctoral fellows and three graduate students during his career.

  • BS, Microbiology & Chemistry, Northern Arizona University
  • MS, Microbiology, Idaho State University
  • PhD, Molecular Biology, University of Arizona
  • Other, University of Arizona
  • Post Doctoral Fellowship, Molecular Genetics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA