Maya L. Petersen, MD, PhD
- Co-Director, Joint Program in Computational Precision Health
- Co-Director, Center for Targeted Machine Learning and Causal Inference
Biography
Maya L. Petersen, MD, PhD is Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology (UC Berkeley) and of Computational Precision Health (UCSF and UC Berkeley), the co-Director of the UCSF-UC Berkeley Joint Program in Computational Precision Health, and the co-Director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Targeted Machine Learning and Causal Inference. Dr. Petersen’s methodological research sits at the intersection of AI, statistical inference, and causal inference, with an emphasis on complex observational and experimental data, individualized treatment strategies, and study designs that adapt to incoming data. She uses these methods to learn better ways to deliver healthcare, both globally and domestically, and leads randomized trials and observational evaluations to deploy these insights and quantify their impact.
Dr. Petersen holds an AB from Stanford University in Human Biology, a PhD from UC Berkeley in Biostatistics, and an MD from UCSF. She has more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and has led multiple NIH and foundation grants, including the Sustainable East Africa Research in Community Health consortium. Dr. Petersen has received multiple awards, including a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Pre-doctoral award, a Doris Duke Clinical Scientist Development award, and a national teaching award from the American Statistical Association. In 2021, Mayor London Breed named June 18 “Maya Petersen Day” in San Francisco in acknowledgement of her services to the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Research Interests
- Causal inference
- Precision health
- Health AI
- Targeted learning
- HIV
- Global health
- Pandemics
Education
- MD – University of California, San Francisco, 2007–2009
-
PhD – Biostatistics
University of California, Berkeley, 2004–2007 - Pre-Doctoral Fellow – Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 2001–2006
-
MS – Health and Medical Sciences
University of California, Berkeley Joint Medical Program, 1999–2002 -
BA – Human Biology
Stanford University, 1994–1998
Publications
Courses Taught
-
- Spring | PB HLTH 252D
- Introduction to Causal Inference
- (“Causal I”)
- Fall | PB HLTH 252E
- Advanced Topics in Causal Inference
- (“Causal II”)
- PB HLTH 290
- Causal Inference Seminar
- (Every two years)
- Doctoral Seminar in Epidemiology
- (First-year students)