Katherine Peppers, DNP, CPNP-PC, CPMHS

Katherine Peppers, DNP, CPNP-PC, CPMHS, has over 30 years of nursing experience that she uses to help children and adolescents at Behavioral & Developmental Pediatrics in Raleigh, North Carolina. Katherine is one of only 300 United States Nurse Practitioners who’s board certified in pediatric mental health. She cares for young people with various multifaceted mental health disorders, including intellectual disabilities, nutritional disorders, and behavioral issues.

Katherine attended Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton for her bachelor’s degree in nursing and the University of South Florida in Tampa for her master’s degree. For her post-masters, Katherine went to Arizona State University in Phoenix, and she completed her Doctorate in Nursing Practice at the Duke University School of Nursing (DUSON) in Durham, North Carolina.

Katherine’s mental health expertise earned her a position as co-chair for the Governor’s Task Force on Mental Health from 2015-16. She is a national Pediatric Nursing Certification Board member and exam writer. She became a Duke Johnson & Johnson Nurse Leader Fellow in May 2016. Katherine’s quality improvement project received a nomination for the DUSON, DNP Capstone Award of Excellence, with the results appearing in the Journal of Pediatric Health Care.

Katherine is on faculty at the Duke University School of Nursing and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, teaching graduate school nurse practitioner students. She is also involved in research on cardiovascular screening prior to starting stimulants, the use of pharmacogenetic testing prior to using psychotropic medications, and breastfeeding as a protective factor in the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Katherine has lived in Raleigh with her family for many years and regularly participates in church, community, and volunteering activities.