Christy Petersen, DVM, PhD
Professor
(Courtesy)
Epidemiology
Biography
Christy A. Petersen is the associate dean for research and graduate studies at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Over the past decade, she has led multiple National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded research programs focused on emerging zoonotic diseases, including visceral leishmaniasis and Lyme disease. Petersen’s primary expertise lies in immunopathology, vaccine development and One Health approaches to infectious disease prevention.
Petersen's work integrates laboratory and field-based research, including international collaborations in Brazil and India, to study multi-species disease systems and develop reservoir-targeted interventions. She recently finished her term as chair of the NIH Vaccines for Infectious Diseases Study Section and has contributed to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded research on perceptions of infectious disease prevention strategies. Petersen is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and has held leadership roles in the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. She received her PhD in immunology and infectious diseases from Harvard School of Public Health.
Education
- PhD
- Biological Sciences in Public Health, Harvard University, 2004
- DVM
- Cornell University, 1998
- BA
- Biology, Johns Hopkins University, 1994
Select publications
- Schwartz, A., Henao-Ceballos, F, Arnold, K., Poje, J., Waugh, M., Joyner, G., Azevedo, J.F., Baccam, T., Kontowicz, E., Mahachi, K., Witucki, P., Kundu, S., Nair, N., Pabon-Rodriguez, F., Brown, G., Maryland Field Team, Gomes-Solecki, M., Petersen, C.A. (2026) “A double-blinded, placebo-controlled evaluation of a transmission blocking reservoir targeted vaccine against Borrelia burgdorferi” npg Vaccines. 11, 150, doi:10.1038/s41541-026-01440-w.
- Duxbury, K., Richer, L., Petersen, C.A, (2026) “Sire risk factors for vertical transmission of Leishmania infantum by the dam”. PLoS NTD. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0014303.
- Joyner, G., Abil, O., Sanches, M.J., Schwartz, A., Arnold, K., Poje, J., Petersen, C.A., Gomes-Solecki, M., (2026) “Coinfection ecology and pathogen emergence in a Borrelia-endemic landscape: Five years of Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Babesia microti surveillance in Maryland” Appl Environ Microbiol. doi: 10.1128/aem.02242-25.
- Leal-Lima, A., Nunes-Pinheiro, DCS, Dantas-Torres, F., Ferreira, TMV, Petersen, C. A., Toepp, A. J., Ozanne, M. (2025) “Household Risk factors associated with canine leishmaniosis in Fortaleza, northeastern Brazil: environmental , social, dog characteristics and exposure to Ehrlichia spp.” One Health, Vol.21, Dec., doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2025.101127.
- Valadares, D., Kontowicz, E., Toepp, A., Larson, M, Grinnage-Pulley, T., Petersen, C.A. (2025) “LeishTec vaccination disrupts vertical transmission of Leishmania infantum.” PLoS NTD Jul 30;19(7):e0013320. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0013320.
- Mahachi, K, Miro G, Bourdeau P, Solano-Gallego L, Cardoso L, Oliva G, Ferrer L, Baneth G, Pennisi MG, and Petersen CA, (2024) “Ring serosurvey for diagnostic accuracy of European veterinary diagnostic laboratories for Leishmania infantum canine infection.” Parasites and Vectors (17)1, doi: 10.1186/s13071-024-06631-9.
- Marquez, D., Straily, A., Norris, D., Davis, M., Petersen, C.A. (2024) “Risk Assessment of Leishmania infantum importation into the United States” Emer. Infect. Dis. doi.org/10.3201/eid3012.240649
- Kushwaha, A., Shukla, A., Singh, O.P., Kumar, R., Petersen, C.A., Sundar, S. (2024) “Xenodiagnosis suggests dogs as reservoirs for Leishmania donovani, Bihar, India 2018-2022.” Emerg. Inf. Dis. doi.org/10.3201/eid3012.240649.
- Petersen, CA (2024) “Model to understand how vector-targeted interventions eliminate Visceral Leishmaniasis” Lancet Inf. Dis. doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(24)00488-2.
- Pabon-Rodriguez, F., Brown, G.D., Scorza, B.M., Petersen, C.A. (2024) “Within-Host Bayesian Joint Modeling of Longitudinal and Time-to-Event Data of Leishmania Infection” PLoS One, doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297175.