Helen Genova, PhD

Helen M. Genova, PhD, is associate director of the Center for Autism Research at Kessler Foundation and director of the Social Cognition and Neuroscience Laboratory. She is also an assistant research professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, where she earned he doctorate in Neuroscience.

Her work uses behavioral, cognitive, and neuroimaging methods to study employment and social functioning across clinical populations. She focuses on developing interventions for social cognition and communication challenges in autism, multiple sclerosis, and traumatic brain injury.

Dr. Genova has led the development of Kessler Foundation Strength Identification and Expression (KF‑STRIDE®), a program designed to help autistic adolescents and young adults identify and communicate their strengths in education and employment settings. She also brings lived experience as the parent of an adult on the autism spectrum, informing her research on independence, self‑advocacy, and quality of life across the lifespan, with her work supported by NIH and other major institutions.