Profile

• B.A., Biology and Secondary Education, Cornell College, 1999
• M.S., Biobehavioral Sciences, University of Connecticut, 2002
• Ph.D., Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Connecticut, 2004

Dr. Ann M. Peiffer is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Mars Hill University. In addition to Psychology, she works closely with the Art Therapy, Women’s & Gender Studies, and Community Engagement programs. Her Ph.D. is in Behavioral Neuroscience, examining how the brain and auditory system responds during prenatal development to injury, hormones, and aging. As a translational scientist, she has experience in both animal and human-subjects research that has examined topics such as thinking, language development, memory, attention, basic sensory processing (auditory, visual, and multisensory), and the impact of cancer treatment on quality of life and cognition. She has over 50 peer-reviewed articles published in the scientific literature. She loves contemplating the biological, brain basis for development and behavior while exploring the outdoor beauty of Madison County and taking art classes to better integrate art with the psychology courses she teaches. She obtained her B.A (Biology and Secondary Education, 1999) at Cornell College, her Master’s (Biobehavioral Sciences, 2002) and Ph. D. (2004) at the University of Connecticut. She completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in the Department of Radiology at Wake Forest School of Medicine (2010) before joining the Department of Radiation Oncology. She joined the MHU faculty in the Fall of 2014.