Andrew Petersen, PhD
Senior Scientist in iPSC group at Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics, Inc (FCDI), Madison, WI
Advisor: Dr. David Wassarman
Graduation: 12/2012
Research Interest: Studying causes of neurodegeneration in humans using human stem-cell derived neurons and glia, primarily focused on models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alexander’s disease
Biography
Alumni News
- Andrew received his PhD in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology from Dr. David Wassarman’s laboratory at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His thesis research used Drosophila to study underlying causes of neurodegeneration in a model of the human disease Ataxia-telangiectasia. His research indicated that upregulation of the innate immune response, which is analogous to the inflammatory pathway in mammals, may promote neurodegeneration in this disease.
- He is currently working in the laboratory of Dr. Su-Chun Zhang studying the causes of neurodegeneration in humans using stem-cell derived neurons and glia. His work primarily focuses on models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alexander’s disease.
Publications
- Cao Y, Chtarbanova S, Petersen AJ, and Ganetzky B (2013). Dnr1 mutations cause neurodegeneration in Drosophila by activating the innate immune response in the brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 110:E1752-1760. Epub 2013 Apr 23. PMCID: PMC3651420
- Petersen AJ, Katzenberger RJ, Wassarman DA. (2013). The innate immune response transcription factor relish is necessary for neurodegeneration in a Drosophila model of ataxia-telangiectasia. Genetics. 194:133-142. Epub 2013 Mar 15. PMID: 23502677 [PubMed – in process]
- Petersen AJ, Katzenberger RJ, and Wassarman DA (2013). Germline gene expression in glial cells is regulated by ATM and prevents neurodegeneration inDrosophila. Hum Mol Genet. (In revision)
- Petersen AJ, Katzenberger, RJ, and Wassarman DA (2013). Glial-cell activation of the NFkB protein Relish is required for neurodegeneration. In preparation
- Petersen AJ and Wassarman DA (2012). Drosophila innate immune response pathways moonlight in neuro-degeneration. Fly (Austin). 6:169-172. PMCID: PMC3306708
- Petersen AJ, Rimkus SA, and Wassarman DA (2012). ATM kinase inhibition in glial cells activates the innate immune response and causes neurodegeneration in Drosophila. PNAS. 109:4039. PMCID: PMC3306708
- Rimkus SA, Petersen AJ, Katzenberger RJ, and Wassarman DA (2010). The effect of ATM knockdown on ionizing radiation-induced neuronal cell cycle re-entry in Drosophila. Cell Cycle. 9:2686-2687. No abstract available. PMCID: PMC3322451