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About

Maria Hopkins is a pioneering researcher in human-robot interaction, with a focused expertise in developing socially assistive robots for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Her major contribution centers on the design and evaluation of the Socially Animated Machine (SAM) robot, an emotionally expressive intervention tool aimed at improving social communication skills in children with ASD. In her landmark 2017 feasibility study (24 citations), Hopkins demonstrated that SAM could effectively engage children and elicit emotional responses, laying the groundwork for robot-assisted therapy. Her subsequent 2019 work (7 citations) identified key characteristics—such as cognitive ability and baseline social skills—that predict improvement following SAM intervention, offering critical insights for personalized treatment. Hopkins’s research bridges engineering, psychology, and clinical practice, showing that robots can serve as non-judgmental, predictable social partners. Her work has been presented at major conferences (e.g., 2018 abstract, 4 citations) and is shaping how clinicians integrate technology into behavioral interventions. By quantifying both the promise and the limitations of robot-mediated therapy, Hopkins is helping to define a new frontier in assistive technology for neurodevelopmental disorders.