HOW CAN WE HELP YOU? Call 1-800-TRY-CHOP
In This Section

Dr. Roberts investigates brain-wave scanning with magnetoencephalography (MEG) and works to identify biomarkers for neuropsychiatric disorders like autism. Those biomarkers are for diagnosis, prognosis, stratification, and response monitoring as well as substrate identification for targeted therapy. Putting the "bio" into biomarkers is a major emphasis of Dr. Roberts' research, for which he also uses advanced diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and edited spectroscopy.
Bio
Dr. Roberts holds the Oberkircher Family Chair in Pediatric Radiology and is vice chair for Research in the Department of Radiology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia as well as professor of Radiology and adjunct professor of Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania.
He directs the Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center at Children's Hospital, one of the larger clinical and research MEG facilities in the United States, with three MEG devices and a staff of approximately 50 faculty, postdocs, graduate students, research assistants, and technologists.
Dr. Roberts' work in multimodal, 4D/5D functional imaging using biomagnetic recording (MEG) as well as advanced MRI techniques (such as diffusion tensor imaging and edited magnetic resonance spectroscopy), specifically in the study of auditory processing and language in autism spectrum disorders and the pursuit of imaging biomarkers, has been supported by the National Alliance for Autism Research, Autism Speaks, the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Simons Foundation, Clinical Research Associates, the Department of Defense, and through multiple awards from NIH.
He additionally serves or has served as the primary mentor of five junior faculty supported by NIH "K"awards and has active research endeavors, beyond the field of autism, in schizophrenia, TBI and Parkinson's Disease, as well as methodological development.
He has published in excess of 300 scientific papers, 30+ book chapters, and given a large number of international invited presentations, mostly in the field of physiologic and functional imaging. In addition to actively reviewing grant proposals and serving on executive committees and editorial boards, in 2018 Dr. Roberts hosted the International Meeting on Biomagnetism (Biomag), the premier meeting in its field. He is a "Distinguished Investigator" of the Academy for Radiology Research.
Education and Training
BA, Cambridge University (Natural Sciences), 1988
MA, Cambridge University (Natural Sciences), 1991
PhD, Cambridge University (MRI), 1992
Fellowship, University of California, San Francisco (Neuro Research), 1994
Titles and Academic Titles
Vice Chair of Research, Department of Radiology
Oberkircher Family Endowed Chair in Pediatric Radiology
Professor of Radiology
Professional Memberships
International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 1988-
American Society for Neuroradiology, 2000-
American Society of Functional Neuroradiology, 2004-
International Society for Advancement of Clinical MEG, 2005-
Professional Awards
Young Investigator Award, URSI-IEEE Symposium on Electromagnetism in Medicine, 1997
Canada Research Chair in Neuroimaging, 2002
AAPM Young Investigator Award, 2005
Science Service Award from NAAR, 2005
Charter NIH IRG Member, Developmental Brain Disorders (DBD), 2008-12
Distinguished Investigator, Academy of Radiology Research, 2016