Aderonke Bamgbose Pederson, MD, is a physician scientist whose research focuses on addressing mental health disparities related to illness stigma with the goal to alleviate mental health disparities for underserved and disadvantaged communities.
Dr. Pederson received a B.A. in Biological Sciences and International Studies from University of Chicago, where she was awarded the inaugural Katen scholar award and the Stanek prize. She received an M.D. from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where she was named a Zell scholar and received the Neymann family scholarship grant. Dr. Pederson subsequently completed a residency in psychiatry at Northwestern University McGaw Medical Center. She received a teaching award during her intern year and was elected as chief resident. She also received the prestigious national American Psychiatric Association Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration residency grant award. She is a book co-editor of the Landmark Papers in Psychiatry, published in 2020 by the Oxford University Press.
Dr. Pederson joined the faculty at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where she was an attending psychiatrist on an inpatient adult unit. She received an NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences diversity supplement award, during which she obtained original data on mental illness stigma, medical mistrust, and other barriers to engagement in mental health care from over 1000 Black adults in a nationally representative sample. She is also the recipient of a Third Coast Center for AIDS Research grant focused on understanding HIV stigma and its intersection with depression stigma among African immigrants living with HIV with the goal to improve HIV treatment outcomes. She joined Massachusetts General Hospital in 2021.