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Alicia Peterson, PhD

alicia.k.peterson@kp.org

Alicia  Peterson, PhD

Alicia Peterson, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research within the Women’s and Children’s Health Section and is a NIDDK T32 Fellow. 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

  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Section Affiliations:

Primary Research Interests:

  • Perinatal epidemiology
  • Environmental epidemiology
  • Health disparities

Publications

Associations between area-level arsenic exposure and adverse birth outcomes: An Echo-wide cohort analysis

Authors: Lewis, Jonathan V;Farzan, Shohreh F;Padula, Amy M;program collaborators for Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes,;et al.

Environ Res. 2023 Jul 28:116772.

PubMed abstract

Ambient air pollutants are associated with morning serum cortisol in overweight and obese Latino youth in Los Angeles.

Authors: Toledo-Corral, C M; Alderete, T L; Herting, M M; Habre, R; Peterson, A K; Lurmann, F; Goran, M I; Weigensberg, M J; Gilliland, F D

Environ Health. 2021 Apr 8;20(1):39. doi: 10.1186/s12940-021-00713-2.

PubMed abstract

Prenatal Maternal Cortisol Levels and Infant Birth Weight in a Predominately Low-Income Hispanic Cohort.

Authors: Peterson, Alicia K; Toledo-Corral, Claudia M.; Chavez, Thomas A; Naya, Christine H; Johnson, Mark; Eckel, Sandrah P; Lerner, Deborah; Grubbs, Brendan H; Farzan, Shohreh F; Dunton, Genevieve F; Bastain, Theresa M; Breton, Carrie V

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Sep 21;17(18). pii: ijerph17186896. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17186896.

PubMed abstract

Third trimester cortisol is positively associated with gestational weight gain in pregnant women with class one obesity.

Authors: Naya, Christine H; Toledo-Corral, Claudia M; Chavez, Thomas; Lerner, Deborah; Lurvey, Nathana; Eckel, Sandrah P; Peterson, Alicia K; Grubbs, Brendan H; Dunton, Genevieve F; Breton, Carrie V; Bastain, Theresa M

Int J Obes (Lond). 2022 Feb;46(2):366-373. doi: 10.1038/s41366-021-01009-8. Epub 2021 Oct 30.

PubMed abstract

Exploring the evidence for epigenetic regulation of environmental influences on child health across generations

Authors: Breton, Carrie V; Fry, Rebecca; Fry, Rebecca; et al.

Commun Biol. 2021 06 22;4(1):769. Epub 2021-06-22.

PubMed abstract

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