Elsa Shapiro, PhD, LP

Professor
Neuropsychology Director
Phone: (612) 625-7466
Email: shapi004@umn.edu

Elsa Shapiro, Ph.D., is Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology and the Director of the Pediatric Neuropsychology unit of the Division of Pediatric Neurology.  She is a diplomate of the American Board of Examiners in Professional Psychology.   She also holds adjunct appointments in the Department of Psychology and the University of Minnesota Institute of Child Development.

She obtained her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1965, and took her internship at the Veterans Mental Health Clinic in Washington DC and post-doctoral training at the Children's Hospital of the District of Columbia (now the National Children's Medical Center).  After several years at the University of California at Davis, she returned to the University of Minnesota and developed the Pediatric Neuropsychology program.  

She has been interested in teaching and developing a program to train pediatric neuropsychologists to become clinicians and scientists at the practicum, internship, and post-doctoral levels.  She has also been the Interim Director of the Division of Pediatric Clinical Neuroscience, Director of the Autism Spectrum Disorders program,  member of the Committee on Scholastic Standing of the Medical School, and a member on the American Psychological Associations Public Interest Advisory Committee.  She also is an editor for Child Neuropsychology.  She has approximately 70 peer reviewed publications and chapters.  She has an active nationally known research program on childhood dementia and the neuropsychology of poverty, both incorporating longitudinal methods. She is on the editorial board of both neuropsychology and neurology journals. She has held many federal and foundation research grants. She is the author of The Somatizing Child: Diagnosis and Treatment of Conversion and Somatization Disorders and many professional articles.

She is a member of the American Psychological Association, International Neuropsychological Society, National Academy of Neuropsychology, Minnesota Psychological Association, American Society of Human Genetics, and is listed with the National Register of Health Care Providers in Psychology. Her current research is on imaging and hippocampal function in patients with Mucopolysaccharidosis. She is currently writing a book called: Cognitive and Behavioral Development in the Context of Poverty: A Roadmap for the Neuropsychologist.

Education and Training:

• Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, University of Minnesota,1965
• Internship, Veterans Administration Mental Health Clinic, Washington, D.C.
• She had both predoctoral and postdoctoral training in child psychology and neuropsychology at the National Children's Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
• Formerly on the faculties at George Washington University and the University of California, Davis. 

Current Research:

Childhood dementia in chronic diseases affecting the central nervous system:
One of her contributions has been the characterization of childhood dementia and the neuropsychological profiles of various neurodegenerative storage diseases, untreated and treated. Through her work on a multi-center NIH funded study on adrenoleukodystrophy, participation in the executive committee of the World Organization for Research on Lysosomal diseases, and consultation with Genzyme company to study neuropsychological and quality-of-life effects of enzyme treatment on MPS I she has concentrated on the longitudinal multicenter measurement of the natural history and outcomes after treatment of rare diseases.   In addition, she has March of Dimes grant to study MR spectroscopy using a high field  (4 Tesla) magnet to study the spectra of brain metabolites in affected and unaffected cortical white matter in boys with adrenoleukodystrophy with regard to mechanism, early detection, and effects of treatment. Selected recent publications in this area:

The effect of neurotoxic exposure and other factors on cognitive development of high risk children (neurobiological effects of poverty):
She is interested in the effects of environmental neurotoxins as well as other biological and environmental factors on the early development of attention, memory, and behavior in high risk inner city populations. She was the principal investigator of a prospective federally funded 5 year study of the effects of low level lead burden on children’s neuropsychological development.

The DREAMS project funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (DHHS) was a longitudinal study of 281 children from 12 to 48 months with three important features: a) studying the effects of lead overburden on the alteration of the rate (as contrasted with level) of attention and memory development, b) studying the multiple confounding variables that occur in inner city high risk populations, and c) training technicians and staff from the neighborhood to promote participation and involvement.  In addition a study of aggressive behavior and salivary cortisol in these children was funded by the Emma Howe and Minnesota Medical Foundations.  A novel two-factor model of maternal assets and risk factors in combination with composite scores of social risk (low SES, single parent, maternal age under 19) and biomedical risk (birth weight, lead levels, zinc protoporphyrin, months of breast feeding), was used to model the developmental trajectories of a set of child outcomes, including vigilance (early attention)  and mental development. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) demonstrated the relative contribution of these risk variables. These data will be presented at a symposium at the next meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society.

Autism spectrum disorders:
Her current work in this area is with Dr. Kelvin Lim and Dr. Amy Silverman on Diffusion Tensor Imaging in high functioning children on the autism spectrum.