Robert M. Joseph, PhD
Associate Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Anatomy & Neurobiology

PhD, University of Massachusetts Boston
BA, University of Massachusetts Amherst



My clinical expertise is in the diagnosis and assessment (including neuropsychological evaluation) of children and young adults with neurodevelopmental disorders. My scholarly and research interests are in child development and developmental psychopathology, particularly brain-behavior relationships in developmental disorders. My research is aimed at defining the brain bases of social-communicative dysfunction as well as special abilities in autism spectrum disorder as a way of elucidating differences in brain architecture in autism. I use multiple methodologies to investigate neurocognitive function in autism, including computerized measures of behavioral response time, eye-tracking, and magnetic resonance imaging. In addition, since 2011, I have served as the lead psychologist of the multi-site Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborn (ELGAN) Study investigating early environmental and biological predictors of neurocognitive and neurobehavioral outcomes in children born at extremely low gestational age. A primary aim of this study is to determine if neonatal markers of brain inflammation predict a higher prevalence of learning difficulties and behavioral disorders, including autism, in children who are born extremely preterm, as well as to identify modifiable risk factors that can reduce the likelihood of preterm birth and optimize the outcomes of children born preterm.

Clinical Associate Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Psychiatry


Graduate Medical Sciences Educator and Mentor (Primary Mentor of Graduate Students)
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences




The Alama Project: Autism outcomes and neurobehavioral markers in young children born to mothers with HIV in Kenya
09/17/2024 - 05/31/2029 (Subcontract PI)
Trustees of Indiana University NIH NICHD
1R01HD116441-01

Environment, Epigenetics, Neurodevelopment & Health of Extremely Preterm Children
09/01/2019 - 08/31/2023 (Subcontract PI)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NIH OD
5UH3OD023348-07

Environment, Epigenetics, Neurodevelopment & Health of Extremely Preterm Children
09/01/2018 - 08/31/2023 (Subcontract PI)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NIH OD
4UH3OD023348-03

Placental Epigenome and Brain Dysfunction after Preterm Birth
09/08/2017 - 05/31/2022 (Subcontract PI)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NIH NICHD
5R01HD092374-05

Minimally Verbal ASD: From Basic Mechanisms to Innovative Interventions
09/01/2016 - 08/31/2019 (Co-Investigator of Sub-Project / SP)
PI: Helen Tager-Flusberg, PhD
NIH/National Institute on Deafness & Communication Disorders
4P50DC013027-05

Environment, Epigenetics, Neurodevelopment & Health of Extremely Preterm Children
09/01/2017 - 08/31/2018 (Subcontract PI)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NIH OD
5UG3OD023348-02

Environment, Epigenetics, Neurodevelopment & Health of Extremely Preterm Children
10/01/2016 - 08/31/2017 (Subcontract PI)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NIH OD
1UG3OD023348-01

Minimally Verbal ASD: From Basic Mechanisms to Innovative Interventions
04/17/2013 - 08/31/2016 (Co-Investigator of Sub-Project / SP)
PI: Helen Tager-Flusberg, PhD
NIH/National Institute on Deafness & Communication Disorders
5P50DC013027-04

Behavioral and Brain Imaging Studies of Verbal/Nonverbal Integration in Autism
07/01/2005 - 06/30/2007 (Co-PI)
National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR)

Functional Connectivity of Language Areas in Autism and Specific Language Impairment
07/01/2005 - 06/30/2007 (Co-PI)
National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR)

Showing 10 of 12 results. Show All Results


Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2016 Clinical core 4P50DC013027-05-6029 21
2015 Clinical core 5P50DC013027-04-6029 21
2014 Clinical core 5P50DC013027-03-6029 21
2013 Clinical core 5P50DC013027-02-6029 21
2012 Clinical core 1P50DC013027-01-6029 21
2008 Neural Substrates of Gaze and Face Processing in Autism 5K01MH073944-04 9
2007 Neural Substrates of Gaze and Face Processing in Autism 5K01MH073944-03 9
2006 Neural Substrates of Gaze and Face Processing in Autism 5K01MH073944-02 9
2005 Neural Substrates of Gaze and Face Processing in Autism 1K01MH073944-01 9
2002 Faces and their communicative signals in autism 2U19DC003610-07-1 35
Showing 10 of 12 results. Show All Results

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Website       Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

  1. Osorio S, Tan J, Levine G, Ahlfors SP, Graham S, Mamashli F, Khan S, Joseph RM, Nayal Z, Losh A, Pawlyszyn S, McGuiggan NM, Hämäläinen MS, Bharadwaj H, Kenet T. Lower Cortical Activation and Altered Functional Connectivity Characterize Passive Auditory Spatial Attention in ASD. Autism Res. 2025 Sep 24. PMID: 40988632; DOI: 10.1002/aur.70120;
     
  2. Sriram S, Jensen ET, Msall ME, Yi JX, Zhabotynski V, Joseph RM, Kuban KCK, Frazier JA, Hooper SR, Santos HP, Gogcu S, Dammann C, Dammann O, Shenberger J, Fry RC, O'Shea TM. Retinopathy of Prematurity and Neurodevelopmental and Quality-of-Life Outcomes at 10 Years of Age. Am J Perinatol. 2025 Aug 21.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40840505
     
  3. Osorio S, Tan J, Levine G, Ahlfors SP, Graham S, Mamashli F, Khan S, Joseph RM, Nayal Z, Losh A, Pawlyszyn S, McGuiggan NM, Hämäläinen MS, Bharadwaj H, Kenet T. Lower cortical activation and altered functional connectivity characterize passive auditory spatial attention in ASD. bioRxiv. 2025 Jul 28. PMID: 40766355; DOI: 10.1101/2025.01.02.631088;
     
  4. Vaidya R, Yi JX, O'Shea TM, Jensen ET, Joseph RM, Shenberger JS, Makker K, Yanni D, Frazier JA, Fry R, Msall M, Gogcu S, Singh R. Count of Neonatal Morbidities Predicts Outcomes at Age 10 and 15 Years in Infants Born Extremely Preterm. J Pediatr. 2025 Oct; 285:114709. PMID: 40581098; DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2025.114709;
     
  5. Ghassabian A, Dickerson AS, Wang Y, Braun JM, Bennett DH, Croen LA, LeWinn KZ, Burris HH, Habre R, Lyall K, Frazier JA, Glass HC, Hooper SR, Joseph RM, Karr CJ, Schmidt RJ, Friedman C, Karagas MR, Stroustrup A, Straughen JK, Dunlop AL, Ganiban JM, Leve LD, Wright RJ, McEvoy CT, Hipwell AE, Giardino AP, Santos HP, Krause H, Oken E, Camargo CA, Oh J, Loftus C, O'Shea TM, O'Connor TG, Szpiro A, Volk HE. Prenatal Air Pollution Exposure and Autism Spectrum Disorder in the ECHO Consortium. Environ Health Perspect. 2025 Jun 11.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40498638
     
  6. Kelly NR, Kosty D, Bodovski Y, Blackwell CK, Ganiban JM, Neiderhiser JM, Dabelea D, Gilbert-Diamond D, Aschner JL, Bastain TM, Breton CV, Bush NR, Calub CA, Camargo CA, Camerota M, Croen LA, Elliott AJ, Enlow MB, Ferrara A, Hartert T, Joseph RM, Karagas MR, Kelly RS, Lyall K, Magee KE, McEvoy CT, Merced-Nieves FM, O'Connor TG, Santarossa S, Schantz SL, Schmidt RJ, Stanford JB, Straughen JK, Stroustrup A, Talge NM, Wright RJ, Zhao Q, Leve LD. Children's executive functioning and health behaviors across pediatric life stages and ecological contexts. J Behav Med. 2025 Apr; 48(2):230-250.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39786706; DOI: 10.1007/s10865-024-00543-w;
     
  7. Lyall K, Dickerson AS, Green AM, Frndak S, Croen LA, Ames JL, Avalos LA, Aschner JL, Bush NR, Camargo CA, D'Sa V, Dager SR, Dunlop AL, Ferrara A, Ganiban JM, Gern JE, Gissandaner TD, Graff JC, Hertz-Picciotto I, Hipwell AE, Ma T, Miller M, Murphy L, Karagas MR, Kelly RS, Margolis A, Koinis-Mitchell D, McEvoy CT, Messinger D, Nguyen R, Oken E, Ozonoff S, Page GP, Schantz SL, Schmidt RJ, Shuster CL, Schweitzer JB, Sheinkopf SJ, Stanford JB, Trevino CO, Weiss ST, Volk HE, Joseph RM. Demographic Correlates of Autism: How Do Associations Compare Between Diagnosis and a Quantitative Trait Measure? Autism Res. 2025 Mar; 18(3):648-659.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39778060; DOI: 10.1002/aur.3296;
     
  8. Volk HE, Fortes D, Musci R, Kim A, Bastain TM, Camargo CA, Croen LA, Dabelea D, Duarte CS, Dunlop AL, Gachigi K, Ghassabian A, Hertz-Picciotto I, Huddleston KC, Joseph RM, Keating D, Kelly RS, Kim YS, Landa RJ, Leve LD, Lyall K, Northrup JB, O'Connor T, Ozonoff S, Ross A, Schmidt RJ, Schweitzer JB, Shuffrey LC, Shuster C, Vance E, Weiss ST, Wilkening G, Wright RO. Co-occurring Psychopathology in Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Differences by Sex in the ECHO Cohorts. J Autism Dev Disord. 2025 Jan 06.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39762643; DOI: 10.1007/s10803-024-06670-2;
     
  9. Jalnapurkar I, Oran A, Frazier JA, Cochran D, Kim S, Jensen E, Joseph R, Hooper SR, Santos H, Jara H, Kuban KCK, Msall ME, Singh R, Washburn L, Gogcu S, Hanson S, Venuti L, Fry RC, O'Shea TM. Maternal and psychosocial antecedents of anxiety and depression in extremely low gestational age newborns at age 15 years. Front Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2024; 3:1334316.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39816584; DOI: 10.3389/frcha.2024.1334316;
     
  10. Kaplan-Kahn EA, Rando J, Ames JL, Bekelman TA, Camargo CA, Croen LA, Dager SR, Dickerson AS, Dunlop AL, Elliott AJ, Giardino AP, Hazlett HC, Hertz-Picciotto I, Hirtz D, Joseph RM, Landa RJ, McEvoy CT, Messinger DS, Koinis-Mitchell D, Neiderhiser JM, Newschaffer CJ, Northrup JB, Ozonoff S, Schmidt RJ, Volk HE, Lyall K. Describing Multidomain Health Outcomes in Autistic Children in the ECHO Program. JAACAP Open. 2025 Sep; 3(3):618-633. PMID: 40922787; DOI: 10.1016/j.jaacop.2024.05.005;
     
Showing 10 of 142 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 142 publications over 28 distinct years, with a maximum of 16 publications in 2017 and 2018

YearPublications
19971
19981
19991
20011
20021
20035
20045
20053
20061
20071
20085
20094
20101
20111
20121
20133
20144
20152
20169
201716
201816
20199
20204
20218
202213
20239
20249
20258


Promotion to Associate Professor for 18 Medical Campus Faculty

BU Today 6/14/2019

Preemies and underweight babies more likely to have low Iqs

Reuters 2/19/2018
In addition to these self-described keywords below, a list of MeSH based concepts is available here.

autism
preterm birth
child development
child neuropsychology
developmental cognitive neuroscience
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