Tess Peterson

Tess Peterson serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology & Community Health within the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. Her research integrates multi-omics approaches with cardiovascular epidemiology to investigate immune modulation in heart disease, with particular focus on HIV-related comorbidities and aging.

Her educational background includes a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cardiology from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (2024), PhD in Epidemiology (2021), MPH in Epidemiology (2017), and BS in Microbiology (2013), all from the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Peterson's research centers on closing the comorbidity-free life expectancy gap between persons living with and without HIV through advanced multi-omics analysis. She specializes in heart failure mechanisms, immunosenescence, and the intersection of infectious and chronic diseases, with particular expertise in subclinical myocardial disease. Her work employs high-dimensional data analysis to uncover immune pathways driving cardiovascular complications in aging populations with HIV.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong focus on proteomic signatures of cardiac remodeling in HIV populations, with significant contributions to understanding left ventricular structure, myocardial fibrosis, and biomarker correlates of heart failure. Her research consistently leverages major cohort studies including MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study and Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

• NHLBI Loan Repayment Program Award (2023-2025)
• Young Investigator Award, International Workshop on HIV & Aging (2023)
• Johns Hopkins Center for AIDS Research Scholar Award (2022)
• MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study Development Award (2022)
• First Place Blumenthal Research Award, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (2022)

Dr. Peterson actively collaborates within major national and international cohort studies, including the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study and Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Her laboratory work focuses on proteomic and immunological analysis of cardiac tissue samples, with particular emphasis on HIV-related cardiovascular complications in both domestic and international settings, including significant research in South Africa.