Julie M Petersen, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, UNMC College of Public Health
Full member, Child Health Research Institute
Full member, Nebraska Center for Women's Health Research
Full member, Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center
Affiliate faculty, Water, Climate and Health Program
Julie M. Petersen, PhD, MPH, is a perinatal epidemiologist and educator, with more than 20 years of experience in clinical and public health research. Her work aims to inform health guidelines and policy to prevent adverse outcomes, address health disparities and identify higher risk communities for targeted intervention. Since joining UNMC in 2024, her focus has largely been on identifying opportunities to improve health before pregnancy, such as nutrition, physical activity, chronic disease prevention and understanding environmental exposure risks, as this has potential lifelong implications for women, their families and future generations. She also engages in epidemiologic research of adverse outcomes of pregnancy and childhood, including birth defects and pediatric cancers.
Dr. Petersen has methodological expertise in epidemiology, causal inference, machine learning, biostatistics, quantitative bias analysis and simulation. She was the recipient of the prestigious Tyroler student prize, which recognizes an emerging scientist who has already made exceptional contributions to the practice of epidemiology, awarded by the Society for Epidemiologic Research (the largest and oldest general epidemiology society in North America), and currently serves an Associate Editor for AJE Advances: Research in Epidemiology, an open-access sister journal to the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Prior to receiving her doctoral degree, Dr. Petersen served in a variety of roles for multi-center government- and industry-sponsored human subjects research projects in maternal and child health and sexual health, including project director, statistical analyst, clinical study coordinator and regulatory consultant.
- Postdoctoral Researcher: Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 2024
- Postdoctoral Associate: University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, 2023
- PhD: Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, 2021
- MPH: Dual Concentrations in Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, 2016
- BA: Psychology with Distinction, Boston University, 2008
- Maternal and Child Health
- Birth Defects
- Nutrition and Obesity
- Preconception Health
- Epidemiologic Methods
- Causal Inference
- Machine Learning
Dr. Petersen is the instructor for the core epidemiologic methods courses required for the PhD in Epidemiology program, although they are open to other trainees with pre-requisite training in epidemiology. These courses cover topics including causal inference, advanced epidemiologic concepts, study design, analysis and interpretation of epidemiologic data, methods to reduce likelihood of bias and random errors, study critique and oral and written summary of epidemiologic research. Dr. Petersen also chairs the committee for the PhD in Epidemiology qualifying exam, which students must pass before attempting their dissertation comprehensive exam. Dr. Petersen advises and mentors trainees from the Masters through the postdoctoral level.
Dr. Petersen believes her role as an educator and mentor is to create a respectful, engaging and tailored environment that sets up trainees from varied backgrounds for success in the classroom and in their professional careers. She does not believe in making learning material unnecessarily complex. She accompanies compulsory technical content with tangible, real-life examples in a variety of public health topics. Dr. Petersen exposes trainees to on-going debates and developments in the field, and for those who wish to learn more, she directs them to readings, additional trainings and professional networking opportunities.
- Petersen JM, Kahrs JC, Adrien N, Wood ME, Olshan AF, Smith LH, Olshan A, Howley MM, Ailes EC, Romitti PA, Herring AH, Parker SE, Shaw GM, Politis MD. Bias Analyses to Investigate the Impact of Differential Participation: Application to a Birth Defects Case-Control Study. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2023 Dec 15. doi: 10.1111/ppe.13026. Online ahead of print. PMID: 38102868
- Petersen JM, Smith-Webb RS, Shaw GM, Carmichael SL, Desrosiers TA, Nestoridi E, Darling AM, Parker SE, Politis MD, Yazdy MM, Werler MM, National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Periconceptional intakes of methyl donors and other micronutrients involved in one-carbon metabolism may further reduce risk of neural tube defects in offspring: A United States population-based case-control study of women meeting the folic acid recommendations. Am J Clin Nutr. 2023;118(3):720-8. PMID: 37661108
- Petersen JM, Naimi AI, Bodnar LM. Does heterogeneity underlie differences in treatment effects estimated from SuperLearner versus logistic regression? An application in nutritional epidemiology. Ann Epidemiol. 2023 Apr 28;S1047-2797(23)00082-0. doi: 10.1016/j.annepiem.2023.04.017. PMID: 37121376
- Petersen JM, Hutcheon JA, Bodnar LM, Parker SE, Ahrens KA, Werler MM. Weight Gain Patterns Among Pregnancies with Obesity and Small- and Large-for-Gestational Age Births. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2023;31(4):1133-45. doi: 10.1002/oby.23693. PMID: 36942419
- Petersen JM, Parker SE, Dukes KA, Hutcheon JA, Ahrens KA, Werler MM. Machine learning-based placental clusters and their associations with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2023 May;37(4):350-361. doi: 10.1111/ppe.12938. Epub 2022 Nov 28. PMID: 36441121
- Petersen JM, Barrett M, Ahrens KA, Murray EJ, Bryant AS, Hogue CJ, Mumford SL, Gadupudi S, Fox MP, Trinquart L. Confounder Matrix: A Tool to Assess Confounding Bias in Systematic Reviews of Observational Studies. Res Synth Methods. 2022 Mar;13(2):242-254. doi: 10.1002/jrsm.1544. Epub 2022 Jan 5. PMID: 34954912
- Odendaal HJ, Dukes KA, Elliott AJ, Willinger M, Sullivan LM, Tripp T, Groenewald C, Myers M, Angal J, Boyd TK, Burd L, Cotton J, Fifer WP, Folkerth RD, Hankins GDV, Haynes RL, Hereld D, Hoffman HJ, Jacobs P, Petersen J, Pini N, Randall BB, Roberts DJ, Robinson F, Sens MA, Van Eerden P, Wright C, Holm I, Kinney HC for the PASS Network. Association of Concomitant Maternal Alcohol and Cigarette Use during Pregnancy with Risk of Stillbirth. JAMA Network Open. 2021 Aug 2;4(8):e2121726. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.21726. PMID: 34424306
- Petersen JM, Ranker LR, Fox MP. A Systematic Review of Quantitative Bias Analysis Applied to Epidemiological Research. Int J Epidemiol. 2021 Nov 10;50(5):1708-1730. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyab061. PMID: 33880532
- Petersen JM, Yazdy MM, Getz KD, Anderka MT, Werler MM, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Short Interpregnancy Intervals and Risks for Birth Defects: Support for the Nutritional Depletion Hypothesis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2021 Jun 1;113(6):1688-1699. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqaa436. PMID: 33668063
- Petersen JM, Parker SE, Tinker S, Crider K, Mitchell A, Werler MM. One-Carbon Cofactor Intake and Neural Tube Defect Risk Among Women Meeting Folic Acid Recommendations: A Multi-Center Case-Control Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2019 Jun 1;188(6):1136-1143. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwz040. PMID: 30976786
- International Society for Environmental Epidemiology
- Great Plains IDeA Clinical and Translational Research
- Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention
- American Society for Nutrition
- National Birth Defects Prevention Network
- Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research
- American Public Health Association
- Society for Epidemiologic Research
- 2024 Sigma Xi, Full Membership
- 2022 Tyroler Student Prize Paper Award, Society for Epidemiologic Research
- 2021, 2016 Delta Omega Honors Society
- 2016 Theodore Colton Prize for Excellence in Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health
- 2008 Phi Beta Kappa
- 2008 National Society of Collegiate Scholars
I believe my role as an educator is to create a respectful and engaging environment that sets-up students from varied backgrounds for success in the classroom and in their professional careers. I do not believe in making learning material unnecessarily complex. I accompany compulsory technical content with tangible, real-life examples in a variety of public health topics. I expose students to on-going debates and developments in the field, and for those who wish to learn more, I direct them to readings, additional trainings, and professional networking opportunities.