Nils Petersen obtained his medical degree and a doctorate in neuroscience from Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany. He completed his residency in Neurology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, NY, where he also served as chief resident in his final year. He then pursued fellowship training in Vascular Neurology at Columbia University and simultaneously completed a Master's degree in Patient-Oriented Research at the Mailman School of Public Health. He next completed a fellowship in Neurocritical Care at Massachusetts General Hospital and also obtained certification in Neurovascular Ultrasound from the American Society of Neuroimaging.
He is the director of the Yale Cerebral Blood Flow Laboratory, which provides the infrastructure for advanced monitoring of brain physiology. His clinical and research interests are in using ultrasound and novel neuromonitoring modalities to better understand brain blood flow regulation. His ongoing clinical care of patients in the Neurologic Intensive Care Unit and Stroke Service continues to inspire his research pursuits, with the goal of improving patient outcomes and preventing neurologic worsening after acute ischemic stroke.