PhD Student Named Cochair of SER Committee.
Julie Petersen, statistical analyst and doctoral student in the Department of Epidemiology, was appointed as the education cochair of the Society for Epidemiologic Research’s Student and Post-Doc Committee (SER-SPC) in July. She will serve in the role for two years.
As the education cochair, Petersen is responsible for coordinating and moderating the journal club hosted by the SER-SPC, as well as attending SPC meetings, including one that will be held at SER’s annual meeting in June 2020. She is also coordinating SPC webinars, where epidemiology students and professionals can gain both soft and hard skills that they may not have received in their formal training, such as grant writing.
Petersen’s main goal in her new role is to ensure relevant and impactful topics and pressing public health issues are covered through the webinars and journal club. In the past, she says, SER has largely focused on methods in epidemiology and siloed research topics. While rigorous methodology is critical, she says, the work of epidemiologists will be most impactful to future generations if innovation and collaboration are embraced and the field comes together to tackle social-structural influences on population health.
“As epidemiologists, I think we are more effective when we work with other disciplines,” says Petersen. “I’m working to make sure that the topics at these events are ones that, when appropriate, attract a broader audience, so we can get a broader perspective on pressing issues such as obesity and racial disparities.”
In her doctoral research, Petersen applies novel analytic methods to the study of pregnancy and early development, to gain insight into the timing between successive pregnancies, weight gain among obese mothers, and underlying causes of fetal growth restriction.
SER-SPC’s mission is to facilitate the educational experiences and professional development of students in epidemiology-related disciplines by providing information, resources, and networking opportunities.