Professor and Vice ChairmanDr. Peterson was born May 15, 1956 in Olympia, Washington. He received his undergraduate training at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff Arizona where he earned a B.S. degree in Microbiology and Chemistry in 1979. In 1981, Dr. Peterson obtained his M.S. degree in Microbiology and Biochemistry at Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho. He completed his Ph.D. degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona in the laboratory of Dr. David W. Mount.
From 1987 to 1990, he trained as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Margaret G. Kidwell at the University of Arizona and then as a senior fellow in the laboratory of Dr. George Stamatoyannopoulos at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington from 1990-1992. He was appointed Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Medicine at the University of Washington in 1992 and Adjunct Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetics in 1996. In 1996, Dr. Peterson was promoted to Research Associate Professor in Medical Genetics, with an adjunct appointment in Genetics. Dr. Peterson joined the faculty at the University of Kansas Medical Center in 1998 as an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with a joint appointment in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology.
Dr. Peterson began his research career working on the SOS response in Escherichia coli, an inducible system of DNA repair and mutagenesis, followed by studies of P-element transposition and horizontal transfer of P-elements between species of Drosophila, finally settling on his current emphasis regarding the developmental regulation of human b-like globin gene switching. He is internationally recognized for development of the technique of yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) transgenesis, the generation of transgenic mice with huge contiguous stretches of DNA carried on YACs or similar vectors. Dr. Peterson employs this technique to answer questions and test hypotheses related to b-globin gene expression using human b-globin locus YAC transgenic mice.
These research efforts include: 1) the correlation that appears to exist between spatial gene order and temporal order of gene expression; 2) the role of the b-globin locus control region (LCR) in human b-like globin gene regulation including demonstration of the existence of a LCR holocomplex and elucidation of its structure, the function of the LCR at its endogenous location versus ectopic (transgene) locations, the role of individual LCR DNAse I-hypersensitive sites (HSs) in regulation of gene expression, the role of HS-flanking sequences, spatial arrangement of HSs and number of LCRs in LCR function, and specific LCR HS-globin gene interactions using multiply mutant YACs (e.g. HS-promoter mutation combinations); 3) an examination of chromatin boundary elements that may define embryonic/fetal/adult chromatin domains within the globin locus; 4) the role of trans-acting factors (EKLF, NF-E2, GATA-1, etc.) in developmental regulation of b-globin synthesis; and 5) transactivation and repression of fetal g-globin gene expression.
These projects are ultimately aimed at defining pharmacologic or gene therapies for treating sickle cell anemia and b-thalassemias. Dr. Peterson also has been or is involved in the development of other YAC transgenic mouse models of human disease including polycystic kidney disease, Kennedy’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Peterson has been funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1998 and currently has three NIH grants supporting globin regulation research. He was awarded a Madison and Lila Self Faculty Scholarship for research and mentoring at the University of Kansas in 2001. Dr. Peterson presently supervises the training of two graduate students and two postdoctoral fellows. He teaches developmental biology, transcriptional regulation, DNA replication and repair, and RNA processing related topics to both graduate students and medical students. Dr. Peterson serves on numerous committees and advisory boards at KUMC and takes a special interest in K-12 education throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area.
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