Our Founder
Experience. Perspective. Vision.
About our founder: Dr. Katia M. Peterson, MPH PhD
The need for high-quality mixed-method research has become clearer than ever before as donors, countries and organizations seek to answer tough questions about complex issues in health-related behavior. Local country offices, traditionally better acquainted with quantitative research, are now under increased pressure to deliver solutions that can only come from the deft application of a mixed method approach. This has created a gap between the funding community’s expectations and the typical in-country team’s capacity to deliver.
In response to the urgent need for lean, focused and financially sustainable mixed method support and training, Dr. Katia M. Peterson founded In Situ. Equipped to provide short-term assistance, project-specific expertise and leading-edge virtual support, In Situ provides a practical alternative to traditional institutions.
With years of experience teaching in both the field and in the university classroom, Dr. Peterson remains driven by a passion for people, for fresh perspectives, and for creative problem-solving. She and the In Situ team continue to seek out new ways to develop and share actionable knowledge that improves lives around the world.
Professional Bio
Dr. Katia Peterson has over fourteen years of experience designing and executing mixed method research studies across key global health areas in low-resource settings. She lends her unique experience as a qualitative researcher, epidemiologist and technical writer to developing the capacity of researchers to produce high-quality evidence and communicate their findings in a way that supports evidence-based decision-making.
During her tenure as a Researcher at Population Services International (PSI), Dr. Peterson spearheaded capacity building initiatives in qualitative research and technical writing. Utilizing her training in adult education and her experience instructing individuals from non-Socratic pedagogical backgrounds, she developed and modified training curriculums in a way that speaks to non-Western research audiences.
Dr. Peterson served as a Research Technical Officer for the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Philippines, where she provided training to Asia's EVIPnet network (Evidence-to-Policy resource) teams on how to undertake and communicate findings from systematic reviews.
She received her PhD in Global Health from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia and her Masters in Public Health (Epidemiology) at The George Washington University in Washington, DC.
Dr. Peterson is currently an Adjunct Faculty member at The George Washington School of Public Health and Health Sciences where she teaches courses in Health Communications & Social Marketing, Marketing Research for Public Health, and Social Behavior Change Communication in Low to Middle Income Countries. She is also a faculty mentor for MPH student projects and an active member of the American Evaluation Association and Health Systems Global.
Contact Katia
katia@insitu-research.com
202.642.4010