Moya Peterson, PhD, ARNP
Clinical Associate Professor, University of Kansas Medical Center
Director, Adults with Down Syndrome Specialty Clinic
Moya Peterson completed her dissertation in 2009 and the topic was adults with Down syndrome. In 2011 she started a primary care clinic for adults with Down syndrome within the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Kansas. It is a different model in that it has a nurse practitioner as the only healthcare provider. She has developed a network of other providers (nurse practitioners and physicians) for consultations and referrals.
Peterson has been involved in the care of people with Down syndrome for most of her professional career. She started by caring for children with Down syndrome at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, as a staff nurse. She has been involved with adults with own syndrome in the community for a long time and then the natural progression was to start a clinic for their healthcare. Peterson realized with her dissertation work that when a person with Down syndrome completed school, there were little resources for them. At about that same time they needed to transition to adult care from pediatrics and there was no one in the Midwest that they could go to for the specialized care they needed. Her clinic is growing steadily and she enjoy this population so much.
Peterson has been active in the Down Syndrome Medical Interest Group for a number of years. She has been so grateful for their guidance and interest in her clinic. She has developed a libguide for professionals and parents of articles that have been published recently about adults with Down syndrome.
In 2018, Peterson received the Lillian Carter Exemplary Acts in Nursing award. She is the recipient of several small grants from the organization First Downs for Down Syndrome in Kansas City, and she continues to look for and develop resources to provide the most up to date care for adults as well as provide them with resources for their adult lives. She does frequent speaking at various community organizations as well as groups within KUMC on the topic of adults with Down syndrome.