Jennifer Peters, Ph.D.

Dr. Jennifer Peters experience includes nearly 20 years of utilizing microscopy and imaging techniques in a variety of settings including academia, the microscopy industry, and research medicine. She completed her Ph.D. in Bioanalytical Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh in 2001, where her research involved the study of dopaminergic neurotransmission using in vivo voltammetry. In addition to electrochemical studies, her Ph.D. research also utilized electron microscopy to image the brain tissue surrounding microelectrode implantation sites.

Peters is no stranger to the University of Michigan, as it’s where her career in microscopy took root. After serving as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Robert T. Kennedy at the University of Florida, she joined Kennedy at the University of Michigan, where he currently serves as the Hobart H. Willard Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry, Pharmacology, and Chair of Chemistry. Her research in the Kennedy laboratory utilized a novel live-cell confocal microscopy method to image secretion from pancreatic islets. After completing her postdoc, Peters worked under the direction of Dr. James R. Baker as a staff microscopist at the Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and the Biologicals Sciences (M-NIMBS), where she imaged PAMAM dendrimer nanodevices designed to selectively target and deliver therapeutic agents to cancer cells. During this time, she also had the opportunity to utilize instrumentation at the BRCF Microscopy Core and further develop her interests in advanced microscopy techniques.

Most recently, Peters worked in the Cell and Tissue Imaging Center at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for training, collaborating, and managing the projects of facility users. She made substantial contributions to users’ projects by applying expertise in both microscopy and image analysis, which resulted in the co-authorship of several high-impact publications. She also participated in the acquisition and installation of all the major imaging systems currently in use in the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital Cell and Tissue Imaging Center.