Dr. Nils Petersen is a physician-scientist and neurointensivist at Yale New Haven Hospital, where he provides critical care for patients with severe neurological conditions in the neuroscience intensive care unit (NICU). His clinical expertise spans stroke, central nervous system infections, neuromuscular disorders, and postoperative neurosurgical care. He emphasizes both deep neurological knowledge and fine clinical judgment in delivering individualized care.

Recruited to Yale in 2014, Dr. Petersen designed and launched a state-of-the-art neurovascular ultrasound lab. He now directs the Yale Cerebral Blood Flow Laboratory, where his research explores how neurologic injuries—especially stroke—impact cerebral blood flow and brain physiology. His work integrates advanced neuromonitoring tools and ultrasound to better understand and improve outcomes following acute brain injury.

Dr. Petersen earned his MD and PhD in neuroscience from Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany. He completed his neurology residency and served as chief resident at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, followed by a Vascular Neurology fellowship at Columbia University, where he also earned a Master’s in Patient-Oriented Research. He then completed a Neurocritical Care fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and is certified in Neurovascular Ultrasound by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

At Yale, Dr. Petersen’s clinical and research efforts are deeply interconnected. His experiences at the bedside inform his scientific inquiries, with the shared goal of preventing neurologic deterioration and optimizing recovery for stroke patients.