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About

Lavinia Jisa is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of developmental robotics and autism intervention. Her work focuses on leveraging humanoid robots—particularly the Nao robot—to enhance social engagement in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Jisa’s landmark 2012 study, “Children with Autism Social Engagement in Interaction with Nao, an Imitative Robot,” earned 264 citations and demonstrated that children with ASD show significantly more social responsiveness when interacting with a robot that imitates their movements in real-time, compared to a human partner. This work, along with its companion paper (211 citations), established a new paradigm for using imitative robots as social catalysts. Her later exploratory study (2020) further investigated children’s awareness of being imitated, probing the cognitive mechanisms behind this engagement. Jisa’s contributions have shaped the field of socially assistive robotics, offering evidence-based pathways for technology-mediated therapy. Her research continues to influence how robots can be designed to support social skill development, making her a key figure in translational robotics for neurodevelopmental conditions.