Prof. Dr. Annette Peters

Head of the Research Units 'Epidemiology of Air Pollution Health Effects' and ‘Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases’

Tel.: +49 (0)89-3187-4566
Fax: +49 (0)89-3187-3380
peters@helmholtz-muenchen.de

Education

• 1987: Vordiplom Biologie, University of Konstanz, Germany
• 1989: Vordiplom Mathematik, University of Tübingen, Germany
• 1992: Diplom Biologie (Master of Science in Biology), University of Tübingen, Germany
• 1996: Dr. rer. biol. hum. (Doctoral Degree), Medical School, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany
• 1998: Master of Science in Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA
• 2003: Habilitation in Epidemiology (Associated Professor level), Medical School, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany

Experience

• 1993 - 1994: Visiting doctoral student, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA
• 1995 - 2000: Post-Doc, Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München (former GSF), Neuherberg, Germany.
• 1997 - 1998: Post-doctoral Fellow, Environmental Epidemiology Program, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA
• 2001: Head of the Research Unit 'Health Effects of Ambient Particles', Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München (former GSF), Neuherberg, Germany
• 2007: Head of the Research Unit Units 'Epidemiology of Air Pollution Health Effects' and ‘Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases’, Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München (former GSF), Neuherberg, Germany

Awards

• 2000  David Bates Award, American Thoracic Society, USA
• 2005 Johann-Peter Süßmilch Medaille

Research Interests:

My research interests are evolving around the health effects of particulate matter on the cardiovascular system. In the past, I have conducted studies addressing the pathophysiological mechanisms responsible for the short-term health effects of ambient particles by means of epidemiological studies.
Susceptible subpopulation to health effects of ambient particles have been my focus over the past 10 years. Research as part of the Rochester EPA Particle Center has investigated patients with coronary artery disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We currently investigate subjects with diabetes, pre-diabetes and genetic susceptibility as part of the Rochester Particle Center II. Beyond PM10, particle size distributions and other particle characteristics are considered in these studies and colleagues and I at GSF have designed and implemented a measurement station providing continuous particle characterization in Augsburg Germany in 2004. For further understanding the potential effects of ambient particles within hours as observed for the myocardial infarction onset during times spent in traffic, we have added personal exposure measurements while simultaneously monitoring cardiac function.
The potential for ambient particles to induce cardiovascular responses within minutes as well as to promote cardiovascular disease over periods of years is one of the scientific challenges ahead. Specifically, it is currently unclear whether small pathophysiological changes as seen in the short-term health effect studies are sufficient to explain the burden of disease as observed in long-term health effect studies. Therefore in the future, I would like to design and to conduct studies that allow integrated assessment of both short-term as well as long-term health effects.
Studies on gene-environment interactions are an emerging focus of my work. The European multi-center study AIRGENE recruited myocardial infarction survivors and assessed the impact of ambient particles on inflammatory markers as well as the modification of these effects by candidate polymorphisms of the atherosclerotic pathways. This research is envisioned to be extended by employing whole-genome-wide association scans to detect new genes for gene-environment interactions.
Health effects to ambient particles provide to my mind a model to better understand the progression of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular or metabolic disorders or pulmonary diseases. Early physiological responses as well as the development of intermediate phenotypes in subjects with high ambient air pollution exposures might be transferable to other behavioral risk factors such as diet or physical exercise. It is therefore my vision to apply methods developed of air pollution epidemiology to address a wider variety of exposures in large population based cohort studies, to quantitatively embed the results found for ambient particles in an assessment of factors influencing health and to provide comprehensive strategies for disease prevention. Specifically, I am interested to contribute to studies assessing the development of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders and pulmonary disease from early adulthood to older age considering environmental, life-style and genetic factors in an integrated fashion.

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