معرفی
Dr Nathan Caruana is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Flinders University’s College of Education, Psychology and Social Work. He leads the HAVIC Lab for Human, Artificial & Virtual Interactive Cognition and is a key figure in the Flinders Institute for Mental Health and Wellbeing.
- B. Psych. (Hons 1), Macquarie University (2012)
- PhD in Human Cognition and Brain Sciences, Macquarie University (2016)
His research focuses on social cognition in neurotypical and neurodivergent populations (autism, schizophrenia) through virtual reality, eye-tracking, social robotics, and neuroimaging. Recent work examines joint attention mechanisms, gaze-based communication systems, and robot-assisted literacy for neurodiverse children.
Recent publications explore autism diagnosis disclosure, robot trust dynamics, and VR-based employment training. His 2025 articles in Molecular Autism and Royal Society Open Science address neurodiverse communication and gaze contextuality.
- 2024: Flinders Institute Best Thought Leader
- 2023: Best ECR Presentation in Social Neuroscience
- 2021: Paul Bourke Award
- 2016: David Hall Prize (Best Thesis)
He secures substantial grants including the 2025 Enterprise Scholarship ($172,406) and Bial Foundation Grant (€57,500). His 2022 MQ Strategic Infrastructure Grant ($134,013) supported VR-based neuroinclusion research.
