Dr. Christine Petersen graduated with her DVM from Cornell University in 1998, and completed her PhD in Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard School of Public Health in 2004. With the first seeds planted as a veterinary student doing a summer research project on African Trypanosomiasis in Nairobi, Kenya, Dr. Petersen’s scientific career has focused on the prevention of zoonotic diseases, which primarily focuses on leishmaniasis. Dr. Petersen served as director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, a “One Health” collaboration between the Iowa Department of Public Health and regents colleges of Medicine, Public Health (UIowa) and Veterinary Medicine (ISU) until July 2024. As an Associate Professor at University of Iowa, College of Public Health, she also taught joint veterinary, medical and global public health coursework and conducted outreach related to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of zoonotic diseases within animal and human populations. Additionally, she collaborated with the Iowa State University animal shelter medicine program, populations ripe for spread of zoonotic infectious diseases.  Dr. Petersen is now Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at The Ohio State Veterinary Medical College.  There she continues her focus on "One Health" through her research in zoonotic diseases.