Robin Shafer, Ph.D

Robin Shafer completed her Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology from the University of Florida in 2014, where she began her research career developing a mouse model of higher-order repetitive behaviors for use in understanding the neural mechanisms of these behaviors in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Dr. Shafer completed her PhD in Neuroscience from Vanderbilt University in 2019 where she used psychophysics and EEG to explore differences in how individuals with ASD use visual feedback to guide their movements. Dr. Shafer’s current research focuses on understanding deficits in sensory and motor neural systems in ASD, and how these brain differences contribute to motor control and the development of the core social/communication and repetitive behaviors in ASD. Her specific projects combine functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and motor tasks under different sensory conditions to explore brain and behavioral differences in individuals with ASD when they use different sensory systems (vision and proprioception) to control their movements.

Dr. Shafer’s training is funded through a TL1 Postdoctoral Trainee Fellowship by a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) awarded to Frontiers: University of Kansas Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Award number: TL1TR002368