Dr. Peterson began his faculty career in 1976 in the Cancer Center and Dental School of the University of Maryland, with continuation through 1989. He served as Visiting Scholar at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in 1983, and was Consultant in Oral Medicine to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1988-1994. Dr. Peterson was also appointed as associate medical staff at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Oncology Center from 1988-1991. He served as Professor and Head, Dept/ of Oral Diagnosis, University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine between 1989-2005, and again as Interim Department Head 2006-2007. He is currently one of two Chairs of the Interprofessional Education curriculum at UConn Health.

Dr. Peterson’s primary academic responsibilities throughout his career have been directed to oral management of the medically complex patient, with emphasis on oral complications in cancer patients. He has contributed to development of interprofessional models for patient care, research and health professional education in this context for more than 45 years. His leadership contributed to creation of the alliance between Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) and International Society of Oral Oncology (ISOO) in 1998. He has lectured extensively at regional, national, and international levels for over four decades.

Dr. Peterson is author of more than 210 peer-reviewed publications and 160 abstracts. He is editor of two books as well as two JNCI Monographs, including the 2019 JNCI Monograph addressing oral complications in oncology patients. He has been involved in translational and clinical trial research in the oncology setting throughout his career, including serving as Principal Investigator (PI) on two multi-center, international clinical trials involving drug development for oral mucositis in cancer patients. He has also served as PI on multiple NIH grants including R01's and R13's as well as primary mentor for the K Award program.

Dr. Peterson has been reviewer of grant applications for the NIDCR and NCI on a frequent basis during the past 35 years, including study section chair for several panels. He has also been Special Government Employee for the United States Food & Drug Administration for mucositis clinical trials. Dr. Peterson has served as lead writer for the NCI’s PDQ® website Oral Complications of Chemotherapy and Head/Neck Radiation for the past 15 years, and is currently leading the strategic revision for publication in 2024. Dr. Peterson has been a frequent contributor to CancerCare for many years, and received CancerCare’s Physician-of-The-Year award in 2006.  In recognition of his career contributions Dr. Peterson received the FDS RCSEd Without Examination from the Royal College of Surgeons/Edinburgh in 2011. He was appointed in March 2015 to the Faculty of Examiners for the Conjoint FDS Examination in Oral Medicine, and as a Regional Dental Advisor for the College effective April 2015.

Dr. Peterson chaired the NIH-funded conference Oral Complications of Emerging Cancer Therapies in April 2009. He also chaired an American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Education Session in June 2012 titled “Mucosal injury in patients with cancer: Targeting the biology”. Dr. Peterson has been Co-chair of ASCO’s Supportive Care Guideline Advisory Group, as well as recent Chair of ASCO's Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee and Chair of ASCO’s Methodology Subcommittee. He received the Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology award in 2022, and is currently contributing a leadership role in developing joint oral oncology guidelines in collaboration with ASCO and MASCC/ISOO.  

Education

Degree	Institution	Major
B.A.	Colgate University	Biology
DMD	University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine	Dental Medicine
Diplomate	University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine	Oral Medicine Residency Program
Ph.D.	University of Pennsylvania School of Arts & Sciences	Experimental Pathology

Post-Graduate Training

Training	Institution	Specialty
Residency	University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine	Oral Medicine

Awards

Name of Award/Honor	Awarding Organization
Fellow, American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO) (2022)	American Society of Clinical Oncology
King James IV Professorship (2022)	The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
Faculty Recognition Award (presented annually to a UConn Health faculty member at UConn Health Commencement in recognition of academic, administrative and/or clinical excellence) (2018)	UConn Health Board of Directors
Distinguished Service Award (inaugural year of award) (2016)	International Society of Oral Oncology
Invited lectures: 1st Chilean International Symposium on Oral Care in Oncology. Santiago, Chile (2015)	Chilean International Symposium on Oral Care in Oncology
Chair, Am Soc Clin Oncol Annual Meeting Education Session. Chicago, Illinois (2012)	American Society of Clinical Oncology
ADEA Gies Foundation/AADR Academic Dental Careers Fellowship Program (Faculty mentor and ADEA liaison). Dr. Peterson’s national role in interprofessional education was highlighted at the Opening Session of the Am Dent Educ Assoc annual meeting. San Diego, California (2011)	American Dental Education Association
Fellowship in Dental Surgery without Examination. Edinburgh, Scotland (2011)	Royal College of Surgeons/Edinburgh
Honorary Chair, Scientific Committee. 2nd Congress of the Hellenic Association of Supportive Care of the Oral Cavity in Cancer. Athens, Greece (2010)	Hellenic Association of Supportive Care of the Oral Cavity in Cancer
Invited honorary lecture: "Honouring the Past-Building for the Future". London, England (2010)	European Association of Oral Medicine
Invited Prestige Seminar: "Meet the Oncology Expert". Brussels, Belgium (2009)	Institut Jules Bordet
Distinguished Achievement Award (2008)	Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
Invited keynote lecture: Israeli Society of Oral Medicine international conference. Tel Aviv, Israel (2008)	Israeli Society of Oral Medicine
Physician of the Year Award (2006)	CancerCare
Visiting Professor (2006)	Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
Samuel C. Miller Award for significant contribution to the art and science of Oral Medicine (highest academic award of the Academy) (2004)	American Academy of Oral Medicine
Visiting Professor, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2001)	King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, Saudi Arabia
Gigliotti Memorial Award for Excellence in Dental Education (1989)	Univ. of Maryland Dental School
OKU Honorary Scholastic Dental Society (1980)	Omicron Kappa Upsilon
NIH PHS Training Grant #DE-281: Clinical Specialty (Oral Medicine) & Ph.D. (Experimental Pathology) (1972)	National Institutes of Health
NIH Fellowship in Biology: Predoctoral Research Associate (1971)	National Institutes of Health
NIH Fellowship in Biology, Predoctoral Research Associate (1970)	National Institutes of Health

Journal Articles

Book Chapters

Conference Papers

Editorials

Letters

Notes

Reviews