Annette Peters

Annette Peters is the Director of the Institute of Epidemiology at Helmholtz Munich and a Professor of Epidemiology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Germany. She studied biology and mathematics in Germany and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, USA.

Her research spans environmental and molecular epidemiology of cardiometabolic diseases, utilizing large-scale prospective cohort studies like KORA and NAKO to investigate genetic, molecular, environmental, and behavioral risk factors. She pioneered the link between ambient particulate matter and cardiovascular disease, with a focus on air pollution’s role in chronic disease exacerbation and initiation.

Key projects include leading the KORA cohort (18,000 individuals since the 1980s) and the NAKO German National Cohort (205,000 participants since 2014), involving innovative biobanking and magnet resonance tomography. She chairs the NAKO board of directors (until 2022, resuming in 2025) and initiated pandemic-related data collection during the COVID-19 crisis.

Scientific Awards:

• John Goldsmith Award (2019), International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE)
• Johann-Peter-Süssmilch Medal (2005), Society for Medical Statistics, Biometrics and Epidemiology, Germany

Her work emphasizes data-driven insights to inform policy, such as the 2024 EU Ambient Air Quality Directive, and she advocates for gender diversity in STEM, mentoring young scientists while balancing family and career.