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Robert Schultz, PhD

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I am the Director of the Center for Autism Research (CAR) and of the Developmental Neuroimaging Laboratory at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. I am interested in understanding the biological bases of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and using that knowledge to advance treatment. My research uses neuroimaging to measure brain structure and brain function, in order to reveal the underlying neural systems causing ASD.

In my lab, we study school-age children and adults to measure brain function in ASD, and we are studying babies and toddlers with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in order to learn about risk factors and early brain development. Additionally, my lab is becoming very interested in using MRI to track social learning in toddlers and how it is derailed in children with ASD. We are also combining genetic studies with MRI studies in order to understand differences across the spectrum and their biological foundations. These studies hold great promise for better treatments.

I am especially interested in the social brain and how different regions collaborate to allow for accurate social perception and social cognitive processes. Individuals with ASD typically have difficulty with social cognition and face perception. My recent research has used structural and functional MRI (fMRI) to study these deficits. One program of work in my lab examines the role of a specific brain region, the "fusiform face area" (FFA), in both face perception and in social knowledge. Through fMRI, which measures activity in various brain regions during specific tasks, I found that people with ASD have different patterns of brain activity when perceiving social situations compared to individuals not on the spectrum. Based on these findings, I work with colleagues to teach children with ASD to become better at recognizing faces and facial expressions by using a customized computer game – Let's Face It!. We use fMRI before and after training to track changes in the brain following intervention in order to learn about brain malleability and learning in ASD.

I have a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, with a focus in neuropsychology, from the University of Texas at Austin. I hold an endowed chair in the Department of Pediatrics at Children's Hospital. Previously, I held an endowed chair at Yale University's Child Study Center. I am the current president of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR), and I am a member of INSAR's executive board and an Associate Editor of the society's journal, Autism Research. Additionally, I serve on a number of other scientific advisory boards, including, Autism Speaks and United Kingdom's MRC Neuroimaging Consortium on Autism.

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