Bradley Peterson, MD

Professor of Psychiatry & the Behavioral Sciences, Pediatrics, and Social Work

Division Chief of Psychiatry & the Behavioral Sciences at CHLA

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Overview

Bradley S. Peterson, MD, is the inaugural director of the Institute for the Developing Mind at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), as well as Vice Chair for Research and Chief of the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at the Keck School of Medicine and the University of Southern California. He joined CHLA and USC in July 2014 after 13 years at Columbia University, where he served as the director of the Center for Developmental Neuropsychiatry, the founding director of the MRI Research Program, and the Chief of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Before that, he spent 12 years at Yale University, where he served as Director of Neuroimaging at the Yale Child Study Center.

His research involves the development and use of neuroimaging technologies to identify the brain bases of psychiatric disorders and the mechanisms of therapeutic response across the life span. Specific disease processes that he studies include Autism, Depression, Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, Tourette syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Schizophrenia, eating disorders, stuttering, premature birth, and the effects of environmental toxins on brain development.

Dr. Peterson earned his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin Medical School in 1987. He then completed a residency in general psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1990, a National Institute of Mental Health postdoctoral research fellowship at the Yale Child Study Center in 1992, and a clinical fellowship in child psychiatry at Yale University in 1994. He also trained in adult and child psychoanalysis at Yale and Columbia from 1996-2008.

Awards

  • Keck School of Medicine, USC: Dean’s Teaching Award, 2017
  • American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: Outstanding Mentor, 2014
  • New York Presbyterian Hospital of Columbia and Cornell Universities: Excellence in Teaching, 2012
  • American Psychiatric Association: Blanche Ittleson Award for Research in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2012
  • Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research: John J. Weber Prize for Outstanding Research, 2007
  • American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: Outstanding Mentor, 2006
  • 2002
     -: Best Doctors in America, 2002
     – 2015
  • Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honors Society, 1986

Publications

  • Developmental Differences in White Matter Microarchitecture in Youth with ADHD: Longitudinal Findings from the ABCD Study. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2026 Jul 15.. View in PubMed
  • A Pragmatic SMART Study of Medication and CBT Sequencing in Pediatric Anxiety Disorders: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Am J Psychiatry. 2026 Jun 24.. View in PubMed
  • ADHD medications and preadolescent brain structure: patterns of cortical attenuation from the ABCD study. Sci Rep. 2026 Jun 12.. View in PubMed
  • Adult Misuse of ADHD Stimulant Medication in the United States: A Rapid Review. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2026 Jun 04.. View in PubMed
  • Early-Life Cumulative Intake of Ultra-Processed Foods and Subcortical Brain Volume at Age Six Years: A Prospective Cohort Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2026 Jun 02; 101350.. View in PubMed
  • Effects of antidepressant medications on brain tissue microstructure in persistent depressive disorder across two randomized controlled trials. Neuroimage Clin. 2026; 50:104013.. View in PubMed
  • Neonatal Cerebrovascular Stability Index and Oxygenation With 3-Month Neurodevelopmental Outcomes. JACC Adv. 2026 May; 5(5):102761.. View in PubMed
  • Impact of maternal opioid use during pregnancy on offspring brain structure and function: a systematic review of magnetic resonance imaging studies. J Clin Neurosci. 2026 Jul; 149:112020.. View in PubMed
  • Development and evaluation of an automated phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging algorithm for pediatric and adult cerebral blood flow measurement. Neuroradiology. 2026 Jul; 68(7):1835-1847.. View in PubMed
  • Associations of prenatal fine particulate matter mixtures with neurodevelopmental outcomes in early childhood: component- and source-specific insights. Part Fibre Toxicol. 2026 Mar 01; 23(1).. View in PubMed