Alicia Peterson, PhD

Alicia Peterson, PhD, is a staff scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research within the Women’s and Children’s Health Section. Dr. Peterson completed her PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Southern California and her bachelor’s degree in Public Health at the California State University, Los Angeles.

Dr. Peterson’s research has predominantly focused on prenatal exposure to environmental contaminants and their influence on in utero fetal growth and birth outcomes. She is particularly interested in assessing these associations in populations facing health disparities and how biologically measured stress and perceived stress may modify observed relationships. Her prior research concentrated on prenatal exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and ambient air pollution which was assessed with distributed lag models to identify critical windows of exposure. Currently, her research focuses on prenatal environmental exposures including PFAS and organophosphate flame retardants (OPFR) and their influence on metabolic outcomes experienced during pregnancy and early life adiposity. She is especially interested in evaluating exposure profiles through mixtures modeling approaches. This work is conducted within two DOR cohorts participating in the NIH funded Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) research coalition.

Current Position

• Staff Scientist

Section Affiliations:

• Women’s and Children’s Health

Primary Research Interests:

• Perinatal epidemiology
• Environmental epidemiology
• Health disparities

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