Somer Bishop, PhD
Dr. Bishop presents “Enhancing Precision of Behavioral Measurement for Assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorder” as part of the Child Mind Institute Visiting Professor Lecture Series.
Somer Bishop is a clinical psychologist and Professor in Residence in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Weill Institute for Neurosciences at the University of California, San Francisco. At the UCSF Center for ASDs and NDDs, Dr. Bishop participates in comprehensive, multi-disciplinary assessment and treatment of children and adults with neurodevelopmental disorders. She directs the diagnostic training program, conducting trainings on best diagnostic practices for professionals from all over the world.
Dr. Bishop’s research interests focus on the assessment of social-communication and restricted and repetitive behaviors characteristic of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and how these symptom dimensions are affected by individual and contextual factors across the lifespan. She is interested in developing tools that can be used in both clinical and research settings to assess profiles of social-communicative and other behavioral strengths and challenges across development in varied clinical populations (e.g., ASD, intellectual disability, ADHD). Another line of research focuses on promoting psychological health and well-being among adolescents and adults on the autism spectrum, with a particular focus on understanding the impact of positive and negative social experiences on depressive symptoms. Her work has been funded by NIH, HRSA, DoD, the Autism Science Foundation, and the Simons Foundation. She has co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, and she serves on multiple journal editorial boards and grant review panels.