Nicole Petersen, Ph.D.

Dr. Nicole Petersen joined the London Laboratory in January 2014 as a postdoctoral researcher investigating the neural substrates of PMDD. Her main area of interest is neuroendocrinology and how hormones influence mood, memory, emotion, and behavior. She completed her graduate studies in the laboratory of Dr. Larry Cahill at UC Irvine, where she investigated the effects of the menstrual cycle and oral contraceptive pills on the brain and behavior. Prior to that, she worked with Dr. Douglas Levinson at Stanford University on a genome-wide analysis searching for genes that predispose people to recurrent, early-onset major depression. She received her bachelor’s degree in biopsychology from the State University of New York, Binghamton, in 2006, where she worked as an undergraduate research volunteer in the laboratory of Dr. Linda Spear.