Faculty

Ulrike Peters

Research Professor, Epidemiology

206-667-2450

Education

PhD Nutrition, University of Kiel (Germany), 1998
MPH Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, 1999

Contact

206-667-2450

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Box 358080
1100 Fairview Ave N,M4-B402
PO Box 1024
Seattle, WA 98109

Research Areas

Research Interests

My research interest centers on the genetic and molecular epidemiology of common complex diseases, including cancer, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, as well as intermediate traits, including inflammation and metabolic measurements. Within well characterized and diverse study populations, we are studying the impact of common and rare genetic variants across the entire genome, as well as interactions between genetic variants and environmental factors (such as diet, exercise, smoking and aspirin use). We are increasingly bringing in functional genomic data to inform gene-environment interactions as well as rare variant testing. In addition, we are conducting a large-scale study to integrate the tumor and host genome to investigate associations of germline genetic, environmental risk factors and survival in relation to colorectal cancer subtypes defined by existing tumor characteristics as well as novel somatic mutations in colorectal cancer. A further interest of us is the translation of our findings into public health practice and clinical care. Accordingly, we have developed comprehensive risk prediction models that can personalize screening decisions.

Recent Publications (PubMed)

Patient Perspectives on Personalized Risk Communication Using Polygenic Risk Scores to Inform Colorectal Cancer Screening Decisions.
(2025 Feb)
AJPM Focus 4(1): 100308
Goldberg SR, Ko LK, Hsu L, Yin H, Kooperberg C, Peters U, Burnett-Hartman AN
A proteogenomic analysis of the adiposity colorectal cancer relationship identifies GREM1 as a probable mediator.
(2024 Dec 16)
Int J Epidemiol 54(1):
Lee MA, Hatcher CA, Hazelwood E, Goudswaard LJ, Tsilidis KK, Vincent EE, Martin RM, Smith-Byrne K, Brenner H, Cheng I, Kweon SS, Le Marchand L, Newcomb PA, Schoen RE, Peters U, Gunter MJ, Van Guelpen B, Murphy N
Functional variants in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene are associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer.
(2025 Jan 17)
Hum Mol Genet
Prizment A, Standafer A, Qu C, Beutel KM, Wang S, Huang WY, Lindblom A, Pearlman R, Van Guelpen B, Wolk A, Buchanan DD, Grant RC, Schmit SL, Platz EA, Joshu CE, Couper DJ, Peters U, Starr TK, Scott P, Pankratz N
Diet-wide analyses for risk of colorectal cancer: prospective study of 12,251 incident cases among 542,778 women in the UK.
(2025 Jan 8)
Nat Commun 16(1): 375
Papier K, Bradbury KE, Balkwill A, Barnes I, Smith-Byrne K, Gunter MJ, Berndt SI, Le Marchand L, Wu AH, Peters U, Beral V, Key TJ, Reeves GK
Pathway Polygenic Risk Scores (pPRS) for the Analysis of Gene-environment Interaction.
(2024 Dec 19)
bioRxiv
Gauderman WJ, Fu Y, Queme B, Kawaguchi E, Wang Y, Morrison J, Brenner H, Chan A, Gruber SB, Keku T, Li L, Moreno V, Pellatt AJ, Peters U, Samadder NJ, Schmit SL, Ulrich CM, Um C, Wu A, Lewinger JP, Drew DA, Mi H
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