Linda Peterson grew up listening to classical music on Wisconsin Public Radio. There was always music in her family home as everyone played instruments. Since coming to St. Louis, she has been a supporter of the St. Louis Symphony and MOCM.

Education and Training

• 1982-1986 B.S. Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. 
• 1986-1990 M.D. Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
• 1990-1991 Intern in Medicine, Washington University, Barnes Hospital, St. Louis, MO 
• 1991-1993 Resident in Medicine, Washington University, Barnes Hospital, St. Louis, MO 
• 1993-1996 Fellow in Cardiology, Washington University, Barnes Hospital, St. Louis, MO

Clinical Expertise

These include 2D-echocardiography—tissue Doppler and strain rate analysis—particularly as they may be applied to patients with obesity and/or heart failure. I am also interested in peak oxygen consumption testing and its application in predicting prognosis in patients with heart failure. In Accordance with these interests, I attend and teach in the echocardiography laboratory and the section of Applied Physiology.

Research Interests

Because obesity is a national epidemic and contributes to between 11 and 14% of all cases of heart failure, I am dedicated to investigating the causes of obesity-related cardiac dysfunction. In particular, I am interested in what role alterations in myocardial metabolism play in developing cardiac dysfunction and/or adapting the heart to new conditions. My work is translational and conducted in human subjects. I use multiple imaging and metabolic techniques to quantify the myocardial alterations seen in obesity and heart failure. Chief among these are positron emission tomography, echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and whole-body substrate kinetics.