Papers
4
Total Citations
647
H-Index
4
About
Liliana Ruta is a leading researcher at the intersection of developmental neuroscience, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and social robotics. Her work systematically explores how humanoid robots can serve as therapeutic tools to enhance social communication and emotional understanding in children with ASD. Her landmark systematic review, “Autism and social robotics” (2015), with over 480 citations, established the evidence base for robot-assisted interventions, identifying key mechanisms for social interaction stimulation. Ruta’s subsequent experimental studies, including a robot-assisted social-emotional intervention (2019, 118 citations), demonstrated measurable improvements in young children’s social engagement. She has also pioneered the use of neuroimaging endophenotypes to understand the neural underpinnings of human-robot interaction in ASD, bridging behavioral outcomes with brain-based biomarkers. Her work at the intersection of assistive technology and clinical neuroscience has shaped how researchers and clinicians design personalized, technology-mediated interventions. With a growing citation impact and a focus on translational outcomes, Ruta continues to advance the field of socially assistive robotics as a scalable, evidence-based approach for supporting neurodiverse populations.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Autism and social robotics: A systematic review484 citations · 2015
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