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 Hutch Cancer 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)

Methylome-wide association analyses of lipids and modifying effects of behavioral factors in diverse race and ethnicity participants.
(2025 Apr 2)
Clin Epigenetics 17(1): 54
Hu Y, Haessler J, Lundin JI, Darst BF, Whitsel EA, Grove M, Guan W, Xia R, Szeto M, Raffield LM, Ratliff S, Wang Y, Wang X, Fohner AE, Lynch MT, Patel YM, Lani Park S, Xu H, Mitchell BD, Bis JC, Sotoodehnia N, Brody JA, Psaty BM, Peloso GM, Tsai MY, Rich SS, Rotter JI, Smith JA, Kardia SLR, Reiner AP, Lange L, Fornage M, Pankow JS, Graff M, North KE, Kooperberg C, Peters U
Mixed-effects polygenic risk score Phenome-wide association study detects genetic correlation between colorectal cancer risk and phenotype data extracted from the electronic health record.
(2025 Feb 28)
medRxiv
Rosenthal EA, Wei WQ, Luo Y, Namjou-Khales B, Schaid DJ, Esplin ED, Lape M, Kottyan L, Pacheco JAPA, Weng C, Gordon AS, Kullo IJ, Crosslin DR, Grady WM, Hsu L, Peters U, Jarvik GP
Type 2 diabetes polygenic risk score demonstrates context-dependent effects and associations with type 2 diabetes-related risk factors and complications across diverse populations.
(2025 Feb 20)
medRxiv
Guo B, Cai Y, Kim D, Smit RAJ, Wang Z, Iyer KR, Hilliard AT, Haessler J, Tao R, Broadaway KA, Wang Y, Pozdeyev N, Stæger FF, Yang C, Vanderwerff B, Patki AD, Stalbow L, Lin M, Rafaels N, Shortt J, Wiley L, Stanislawski M, Pattee J, Davis L, Straub PS, Shuey MM, Cox NJ, Lee NR, Jørgensen ME, Bjerregaard P, Larsen C, Hansen T, Moltke I, Meigs JB, Stram DO, Yin X, Zhou X, Chang KM, Clarke SL, Guarischi-Sousa R, Lankester J, Tsao PS, Buyske S, Graff M, Raffield LM, Sun Q, Wilkens LR, Carlson CS, Easton CB, Liu S, Manson JE, Marchand LL, Haiman CA, Mohlke KL, Gordon-Larsen P, Albrechtsen A, Boehnke M, Rich SS, Manichaikul A, Rotter JI, Yousri NA, Irvin RM, biobank at the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine, VA Million Veteran Program, Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) study, Gignoux C, North KE, Loos RJF, Assimes TL, Peters U, Kooperberg C, Raghavan S, Highland HM, Darst BF
Assessing Genotype-Phenotype Correlations with Deep Learning in Colorectal Cancer: A Multi-Centric Study.
(2025 Feb 8)
medRxiv
Gustav M, van Treeck M, Reitsam NG, Carrero ZI, Loeffler CML, Meneghetti AR, Märkl B, Boardman LA, French AJ, Goode EL, Gsur A, Brezina S, Gunter MJ, Murphy N, Hönscheid P, Sperling C, Foersch S, Steinfelder R, Harrison T, Peters U, Phipps A, Kather JN
Waist Circumference, a Body Shape Index, and Molecular Subtypes of Colorectal Cancer: A Pooled Analysis of Four Cohort Studies.
(2025 Apr 3)
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 34(4): 568-577
Chalitsios CV, Markozannes G, Papagiannopoulos C, Aglago EK, Berndt SI, Buchanan DD, Campbell PT, Cao Y, Chan AT, Dimou N, Drew DA, French AJ, Georgeson P, Giannakis M, Gruber SB, Gunter MJ, Harrison TA, Hoffmeister M, Hsu L, Huang WY, Hullar MAJ, Huyghe JR, Lynch BM, Moreno V, Newton CC, Nowak JA, Obón-Santacana M, Ogino S, Qu C, Schmit SL, Steinfelder RS, Sun W, Thomas CE, Toland AE, Trinh QM, Ugai T, Um CY, Van Guelpen B, Zaidi SH, Murphy N, Peters U, Phipps AI, Tsilidis KK
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