Stephen Sheinkopf is a Professor of Child Health at the University of Missouri and serves as the Executive Director of the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Dr. Sheinkopf completed his doctoral training at the University of Miami in the lab of Peter Mundy, PhD. Following his time in Miami, he completed his clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University. His postdoctoral work was supported by an NIH-funded individual National Health Service Award (NRSA), training in the laboratory of Barry Lester, PhD. Dr. Sheinkopf stayed on at Brown University after fellowship, rising to the rank of Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics and taking on major leadership roles, including directing the Rhode Island Consortium for Autism Research and Treatment and co-directing the Autism Initiative of the Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute. Dr. Sheinkopf moved to the University of Missouri in 2021, joining MU as the Executive Director of the Thompson Center. Dr. Sheinkopf’s research employs state-of-the-art and novel approaches to studying risk for autism in infancy and on improved understanding of heterogeneous outcomes in autism spectrum disorders. Current projects utilize psychophysiologic tools to interrogate individual differences in attention, arousal, and regulation in relation to developmental outcomes in children and adults with autism, and use of cry acoustics and neurobehavioral measures to identify indicators of risk for autism in early infancy.                                       

Dr. Sheinkopf’s research extends to other pediatric populations as well, including research on developmental course in children with prenatal exposures and children born premature. Throughout his career, Dr. Sheinkopf has maintained a deep commitment to clinical service, training, and mentorship. He maintains an active early diagnostic clinic and has mentored numerous trainees, ranging from undergraduate students to early career clinicians and scientists.