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Head of the Class
May 15, 2013

USC valedictorian Katherine Fu and salutatorians Alexander Fullman and Julia Sabo Mangione — all in USC Dornsife — will…

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May 10, 2013

Congratulations to the ten USC Dornsife students who were awarded 2013 Fulbright Scholarships. The award will take them to…

Preventing Another Darfur
April 23, 2013

For the 13th consecutive year, professor Steven Lamy, vice dean for academic programs in USC Dornsife, led the Center for…

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Wall of Scholars
May 21, 2013

The names of top USC Dornsife students will adorn the wall of Leavey Library in an honor celebrating university-wide students…

Catholic Studies Institute Receives $1 Million
May 21, 2013

The gift creates the Steven and Kathryn Sample Endowment for Ecumenism to support research centered on the foundational…

Scientist and Filmmaker
May 17, 2013

Howard Wayne Harris proves his 9th grade teacher wrong. Earning his Ph.D. at the USC Dornsife hooding ceremony May 16, he was…

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May 17, 2013

USC Dornsife issued more than 2,500 degrees during Commencement 2013: 1,959 bachelor’s, 326 master's, 81 graduate…

Amazing Adventures in Undergrad Research
May 15, 2013

USC Dornsife students win top prizes at the 15th Annual Undergraduate Symposium for Scholarly and Creative Work. In…

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Nancy Lee Pedersen

Adjunct Professor (Research) of Psychology

Contact Information
E-mail: nancy.pedersen@ki.se
Phone: (213) 740-2203
Office: SGM 501

 

Education
Ph.D. (Honorary) , University of Jönköping, 2004
Ph.D. Behavior Genetics, University of Colorado, 4/1980
 

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests
My current research efforts are focused on the etiology of chronic diseases of the elderly including dementia, Parkinson’s disease, late onset depression as well as other diseases with neuropsychiatric components in midlife such as chronic fatigue. I am also interested in genetic influences on cognitive aging and the phenomenon known as terminal decline. Key to my research is the study of comorbidity and the extent to which there are pleiotropic and epistatic effects explaining these cormorbidities and associations.
 

Publications

Journal Article
Andel, R., Crowe, M., Pedersen, N. L., Fratiglioni, L., Johansson, B., Gatz, M. (2008). Physical exercise at midlife and risk of dementia three decades later: A population-based study of Swedish twins. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences. Vol. 63A (1), pp. 62-66.
Turk-Charles, S., Gatz, M., Kato, K., Pedersen, N. L. (2008). Physical health 25 years later: The predictive ability of neuroticism. Health Psychology. Vol. 27 (3), pp. 369-378.
Walum, H., Westberg, L., Henningsson, S., Neiderhiser, J. M., Reiss, D., Igl, W., Ganiban, J., Spotts, E., Pedersen, N. L., Eriksson, E., Lichtenstein, P. (2008). Genetic variation in the vasopressin receptor 1a gene (AVPR1A) associates with pair-bonding behavior in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Vol. 105 (37), pp. 14153-14156.
Gatz, M. J., Reynolds, C. A., Fratiglioni, L., Johansson, B., Mortimer, J. A., Berg, S., Fiske, A. E., Pedersen, N. L. (2006). The role of genes and environments for explaining Alzheimer’s disease. Archives of General Psychiatry/American Medical Association. Vol. 63, pp. 168-174.
Gatz, M. J., Mortimer, J. A., Fratiglioni, L., Johansson, B., Berg, S., Reynolds, C. A., Pedersen, N. L. (2006). Potentially modifiable risk factors for dementia in identical twins. Alzheimer's & Dementia/Elsevier. Vol. 2, pp. 110-117..
Kato, K., Sullivan, P. F., Evengard, B., Pedersen, N. L. (2006). Premorbid predictors of Chronic Fatigue. Archives of General Psychiatry. Vol. 63, pp. 1267-1272.
 

Honors and Awards
Distinguished Career Contribution to Gerontology; BSS Section of Gerontological Society of America, Fall 2007   
James Shields Award for Outstanding Twin Research, Spring 2007   
 
 
Faculty may update their profile by visiting https://mydornsife.usc.edu.