Angela Scarpa

Dr. Angela Scarpa is a Professor of Psychology at Virginia Tech and Director of the Virginia Tech Autism Clinic & Center for Autism Research (VTAC/CAR) and the Psychosocial Adjustment, NeuroDevelopment, and Autism (PANDA) Lab. She holds faculty positions in the Department of Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience and Biopsychology programs, and serves as a supervising faculty at the Psychological Services Center and consultant at the Child Study Center. Her work focuses on autism spectrum neurodiversity, emotion regulation, and improving access to evidence-based services for underserved populations.

Dr. Scarpa earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Southern California (1993) and has held prior faculty roles at the University of Georgia and Eastern Washington University. Her research spans 30+ years, emphasizing emotional and social development in autism, physiological arousal, and family involvement. She pioneered telehealth and mobile autism assessment strategies for rural communities and advocates for neurodiversity-affirming approaches.

Her recent publications highlight advancements in AI-driven mental health support, telehealth accessibility, and neurodiverse collaboration patterns. Key themes include emotion regulation mechanisms, sensory processing impacts on adaptive behavior, and caregiver-facilitated interventions like PEERS® for preschoolers. Articles frequently address disparities in rural autism service access and implementation science.

Dr. Scarpa’s work integrates biosocial models, leveraging physiological measures (e.g., respiratory sinus arrhythmia) to understand autism traits and stress responses. She collaborates across disciplines, including machine learning for autism screening and hidden Markov models for team dynamics analysis.

Her clinical and research initiatives emphasize practical solutions, such as mobile autism clinics and culturally responsive caregiver training. Current efforts focus on translational research to bridge gaps between evidence-based practices and real-world service delivery in underserved regions.