Lars Peterson, MD, PhD, Selected as 2019 NAM Puffer/ABFM Fellow

Dr. Peterson serves as the Vice President of Research at ABFM in Lexington, KY, and is also an associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Kentucky.

Lars Peterson photo
Lars Peterson, MD, PhD

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has selected Lars Peterson, MD, PhD as the 2019 James C. Puffer, MD/American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Fellow. Dr. Peterson serves as the Vice President of Research at ABFM in Lexington, Kentucky. He has authored over 100 peer reviewed publications and made over 100 national / international conference presentations. Dr. Peterson is also an associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Kentucky, where he provides direct clinical care and teaches students and residents.

A native of Utah, Dr. Peterson received his medical and graduate degrees from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio before completing his family medicine residency training at Trident/Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC.

Dr. Peterson leads a team of researchers at the ABFM whose focus is on investigating the ecology of family medicine and what enables family physicians to provide high quality care; in addition to the role of certification, particularly the impact of certification activities on quality. His personal research interests also include investigating associations between area level measures of health care and socioeconomics with both health and access to health care, rural health, primary care, and comprehensiveness of primary care.

As a NAM Fellow, Dr. Peterson will receive a research stipend of $25,000 to further his career. Named in honor of James C. Puffer, M.D., president and chief executive officer emeritus of the ABFM, the fellowship program enables talented, early career health policy and science scholars in family medicine to participate in the work of the Academies and further their careers as future leaders in the field. NAM Fellows continue their main responsibilities while engaging part-time over a two-year period in the Academies’ health and science policy work.

The National Academy of Medicine, established in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine, is an independent organization of eminent professionals from diverse fields including health and medicine; the natural, social, and behavioral sciences; and beyond. It serves alongside the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering as an adviser to the nation and the international community. Through its domestic and global initiatives, the NAM works to address critical issues in health, medicine, and related policy and inspire positive action across sectors. The NAM collaborates closely with its peer academies and other divisions within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.