Dr Erika Petersen

Dr Erika Petersen

Department of Neurosurgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA

Dr. Erika A. Petersen directs the Section of Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery at UAMS Medical Center. She is a professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at UAMS. Dr. Petersen is a board certified neurosurgeon whose clinical practice focuses on neuromodulation, treating movement disorders, spasticity, and chronic pain through surgical procedures and stereotactic radiosurgery.

Dr. Petersen's research interests focus on using high-resolution imaging to understand the functional interaction of centers within the brain and on developing new devices, indications, and methods for treating chronic pain using neuromodulation. Her collaborations with colleagues in neuroradiology, neurology, pain, and psychiatry are aimed toward identifying new applications for the use of deep brain stimulation and neuromodulation for pain.

Dr. Petersen completed her undergraduate education at Princeton University and received her medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She trained in neurosurgery at the University of Texas Southwestern with a fellowship in deep brain stimulation at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. Dr. Petersen has served on the Joint Section on Pain of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS)/Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) and the CNS Scientific Programming Committee and sits on the Executive Board of the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience. She serves as associate editor of stereotactic and functional neurosurgery for Operative Neurosurgery, and is on the editorial board of Neuromodulation.

Dr. Petersen lectures frequently at national and international meetings on deep brain stimulation, emerging applications of neuromodulation, and chronic pain management. She has authored numerous articles and book chapters in stereotactic and functional neurosurgery, neuromodulation, and neuroscience.

Updated 4 March 2024