About

Timothy P. Roberts, Ph.D., is a Professor of Radiology at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. He holds the Oberkircher Family Endowed Chair in Pediatric Radiology at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and serves as the Director of the Program in Advanced Imaging Research at the same institution. His department affiliation is Radiology, and he is involved in graduate group affiliations including Neuroscience, Bioengineering, and others. Dr. Roberts completed his BA in Natural Sciences at Cambridge University in 1988, his MA in 1991, and his PhD in MRI also in 1991 at Cambridge University. His research focuses on advanced imaging techniques, particularly MRI, and he contributes to the academic and clinical fields through his leadership roles and research activities at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Computer Science
• Nuclear medicine
• Artificial Intelligence
• Biology
• Psychology
• Nuclear magnetic resonance
• Neuroscience
• Internal medicine
• Radiology
• Psychiatry
• Genetics
• Physics

Selected publications

• The Tairawhiti Heart Function Accelerated Titration Clinic Early Experience

  Heart Lung and Circulation · 2025-05-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Beyond sensitivity: what are the enabling opportunities of OPM-MEG?

  Frontiers in Medical Technology · 2025-01-21 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  While optically-pumped magnetometer (OPM) technology offers a number of compelling advantages over its SQUID predecessor for magnetoencephalography (MEG), many studies and viewpoints focus on issues of (i) scalp placement, with commensurate increases in sensitivity to weak magnetic fields and (ii) room temperature operation (without the need for baths of liquid helium to maintain superconducting properties of SQUIDs). This article addresses another unique and tantalizing opportunity-the ability for the OPM array to be "wearable", and thus to move with the participant. This is critical in adoption of naturalistic paradigms that move beyond "laboratory neuroscience" toward "real world neuroscience". It is also critically important in application to pediatric populations who cannot or will not remain still during conventional MEG scan procedures. Application to the developing infant brain will be considered as well as application to pediatric neuropsychiatric and developmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder. Rather than present solutions, this article will highlight the challenges faced by conventional SQUID-based cryo-MEG and explore the potential avenues for OPM-MEG to make a positive impact to the field of pediatric neuroscience.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Regionally specific resting-state beta neural power predicts brain injury and symptom recovery in adolescents with concussion: a longitudinal study

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2025-01-23

  preprintOpen access

  Abstract Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is common in adolescents. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) studies (primarily reporting on adult males) have demonstrated abnormal resting-state (RS) brain activity in mTBI. The present study sought to identify RS abnormalities in male and female adolescents with mTBI (no previous mTBI and no previous DSM-5 diagnosis) identified from an outpatient specialty care concussion program setting as a basis for evaluating potential clinical utility. Visit 1 MEG RS data were obtained from 46 adolescents with mTBI (mean age: 15.4 years, 25 females) within 4 months of a mTBI (mTBI acute to sub-acute period) as well as from 34 typically developing (TD) controls (mean age: 14.8 years; 17 females) identified from the local community. Visit 2 RS data (follow-up ∼4.3 months after Visit 1; mTBI sub-chronic period) were obtained from 36 mTBI (19 females) and 29 TD (14 females) of those participants. Source-space RS neural activity was examined from 4 to 56 Hz. Visit 1 t-tests showed that group differences were largest in the beta range (16-30 Hz; mTBI < TD), with Visit 2 whole-brain linear mixed model (LMM) analyses examining beta-band group differences as a function of Visit. A main effect of Group indicated Visit 1 and 2 beta-band group differences in midline superior frontal gyrus, right temporal pole, and right central sulcus (all mTBI < TD). The group effects were large (Cohen’s d values 0.75 to 1.31). Of clinical significance in the mTBI group, a decrease in mTBI symptoms from Visit 1 to 2 was associated with an increase in beta power in 4 other brain regions. Present findings suggest that RS beta power has potential as a measure and perhaps as a mechanism of clinical recovery in adolescents with mTBI.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Regionally Specific Resting-State Beta Neural Power Predicts Brain Injury and Symptom Recovery in Adolescents with Concussion: A Longitudinal Study

  Journal of Neurotrauma · 2025-10-06

  article

  Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is common in adolescents. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) studies (primarily reporting on adult males) have demonstrated abnormal resting-state (RS) brain activity in mTBI. The present study sought to identify RS abnormalities in male and female adolescents with mTBI (no previous Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – 5th Edition diagnosis) identified from an outpatient specialty care concussion program setting as a basis for evaluating potential clinical utility. Visit 1 MEG RS data were obtained from 46 adolescents with mTBI (mean age: 15.4 years, 25 females) within 4 months of a mTBI (mTBI acute to subacute period) as well as from 34 typically developing (TD) controls (mean age: 14.8 years; 17 females) identified from the local community. Visit 2 RS data (follow-up ∼4.3 months after Visit 1; mTBI subchronic period) were obtained from 36 mTBI (19 females) and 29 TD (14 females) of those participants. Source-space RS neural activity was examined from 4 to 56 Hz. Visit 1 t-tests showed that group differences were largest in the beta range (16–30 Hz; mTBI < TD), with whole-brain linear mixed model (LMM) analyses examining beta-band group differences as a function of Visit. A main effect of Group indicated Visits 1 and 2 beta-band group differences in midline superior frontal gyrus, right temporal pole, and right central sulcus (all mTBI < TD). The group effects were large (Cohen’s d values 0.75 to 1.31). Of clinical significance in the mTBI group, a decrease in mTBI symptoms from Visit 1 to 2 was associated with an increase in beta power in 4 other brain regions. Present findings suggest that RS beta power has potential as a measure and perhaps as a mechanism of clinical recovery in adolescents with mTBI.

  PublisherDOI

• BIOM-87. SODIUM (23NA) MRI AND CHEMICAL EXCHANGE SATURATION TRANSFER (CEST) IMAGING IN TYPICALLY DEVELOPING CHILDREN AND IN PEDIATRIC BRAIN TUMORS

  Neuro-Oncology · 2025-11-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract In contrast to conventional 1H MRI, which primarily reveals water molecule distribution, with only indirect association with the physico-chemical microenvironment, 23Na (sodium) MRI and chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) have a more direct physiological interpretation, reflecting biochemical and physiologic changes in the cells of tissues, e.g. cell integrity and tissue viability allowing for direct assessment of cell membrane sodium ion channel function. Sodium concentrations are measurable by 23Na MRI and mobile proteins are measured with CEST [Amide Proton Transfer (APT) signal intensity]; when these are elevated, they have shown to be markers of tumors and proliferation. In this study, we acquired 23Na MRIs and APT in children with central nervous system (CNS) tumors and typically-developing (TD) pediatric controls. Sodium concentrations and APT signal were analyzed in regions of normal brain (brainstem, cerebellum, cerebral cortical grey matter, cerebral white matter, basal ganglia, hippocampus, thalamus) of TD controls and in pediatric brain tumors. The sodium concentration and APT in tumors were compared to homologous regions of the brains of TD controls. We hypothesized that sodium concentrations and APT signal will be greater in tumors compared to healthy brain in TD controls. We also analyzed the repeatability of subjects that received 23Na MRIs and CEST at two timepoints. Preliminary data demonstrates elevated sodium concentrations and APT signal in pediatric brain tumors (n = 5) compared to TD controls (n = 3). There was repeatability at two timepoints with consistent sodium concentrations and APT signal in TD controls (n = 3) and in pediatric brain tumors (n = 4). In conclusion, performing 23Na-MRI and CEST is feasible in pediatric patients with brain tumors. Future work will help answer the complex questions in monitoring treatment of pediatric patients with brain tumors: is there residual or recurrent tumor and differentiating tumor progression versus pseudoprogression.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Correction: A natural history study to track brain and spinal cord changes in individuals with Friedreich’s ataxia: TRACK-FA study protocol

  PLoS ONE · 2025-03-18

  erratumOpen access

  [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0269649.].

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Spectrally Edited Glutamate Associated with Autism Traits

  Proceedings on CD-ROM - International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Scientific Meeting and Exhibition/Proceedings of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Scientific Meeting and Exhibition · 2025-09-16

  articleSenior author

  Motivation: This study examines the relationship between Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) severity, measured by the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), and brain levels of excitatory glutamate and inhibitory GABA. Goal(s): Explore whether these chemicals are associated with the severity of ASD. Approach: Using the MEGA-PRESS sequence, we measured Glu and GABA levels in the temporal cortices of typically developing children and children with ASD. We later correlated Glu and GABA levels (separately) with the SRS scores. Results: The ASD group negatively correlated with SRS scores, suggesting Glu as a potential correlate of ASD severity ratings. Impact: Brain glutamate plays a role in language comprehension, which differs in ASD. This study found that MRS-derived glutamate levels are associated with SRS scores, implying that glutamate is a potential marker for communication deficits in ASD.

  PublisherDOI

• Neuroimaging Biomarkers for Friedreich Ataxia: A Cross‐Sectional Analysis of the <scp>TRACK</scp>‐<scp>FA</scp> Study

  Annals of Neurology · 2025-03-22 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  OBJECTIVE: We aimed to quantify differences in the brain and spinal cord between Friedreich ataxia and controls, stratified by age and disease stage, including for the first time in young children. METHODS: TRACK-FA is the largest prospective, longitudinal, multi-modal neuroimaging study in Friedreich ataxia to date. We assessed individuals with Friedreich ataxia and controls, 5 to 42 years, at 7 sites across 4 continents. The 17 imaging primary outcome measures (POMs) were selected from metrics that showed a significant longitudinal change in previous small-scale studies. These included brain and spinal cord morphometry (structural magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]) and microstructure (diffusion MRI); brain iron levels (quantitative susceptibility mapping); and spinal cord biochemistry (magnetic resonance spectroscopy). This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04349514). RESULTS: Between February 2021 and August 2023, we assessed 169 individuals with Friedreich ataxia and 95 controls. Compared to controls, individuals with Friedreich ataxia had lower volume of dentate nucleus and superior cerebellar peduncles; smaller cross-sectional area of spinal cord; lower fractional anisotropy and higher diffusivity in spinal cord and superior cerebellar peduncles; and lower total N-acetyl-aspartate/myo-inositol ratio in spinal cord. Morphometric differences in spinal cord and superior cerebellar peduncles increased dramatically with age during childhood, with rapid development in controls, but not in Friedreich ataxia. Many imaging POMs showed significant associations with clinical severity. INTERPRETATION: Our findings provide strong imaging evidence of impaired development of spinal cord and superior cerebellar peduncles during childhood in Friedreich ataxia and open the way for the use of neuroimaging biomarkers in clinical trials. ANN NEUROL 2025;98:386-397.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Neuroimaging in Pediatric Psychiatric Disorders

  2025-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Noninvasive imaging and electrophysiological techniques have been developed to probe specific aspects of brain function and dysfunction, providing spatial maps of functional centers and temporal activity characteristics. These techniques have evolved from single-modality methods identifying functional localization, specialization, and segregation, through real-time measures of neuronal activity, toward multimodality integration of structural, functional, and spectrotemporal approaches. While imaging makes an immediate impact in neurologic conditions where physical brain lesions are clearly evident, to make a commensurate contribution within neuropsychiatry is substantially more complex; nonetheless by combining concepts of morphology, neurochemistry, neural signal propagation, and regional connectivity, there appears to be ample opportunity to contribute not only to the diagnosis of patients with mental illness but also to the stratification and subtyping across behavioral phenotypes and, ultimately, to patient management. This chapter present an overview of the most common noninvasive neuroimaging methodologies, as well as their applications to pediatric neurodevelopmental disorders.

  PublisherDOI

• Myo-Inositol Elevation as an In Vivo Marker of Reactive Gliosis in Pediatric Friedreich Ataxia: Evidence from HERMES-Edited MR Spectroscopy

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Neurophysiological and neuroanatomical processes related to Autism Spectrum Disorder in Neurofibromatosis Type 1

  NIH · $473k · 2018–2021

• Analytical Neurochemistry: Core D

  NIH · $12.7M · 2021

• Electrophysiological Signatures of Language Impairment in Autism Spectrum Disord

  NIH · $3.2M · 2007–2021

• Multimodal dMRI, MRS and MEG studies of language impairment in low-verbal ASD

  NIH · $2.1M · 2023–2028

• Electrophysiological Signatures of Language Impairment in Autism Spectrum Disord

  NIH · $313k · 2007–2019

Frequent coauthors

• Alexander Westphal

  Yale University

  730 shared

• Lawrence David Scahill

  609 shared

• Corey Ray-Subramanian

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  450 shared

• Jessica L. Roesser

  University of Rochester

  426 shared

• Kelly Macy

  University of Vermont

  423 shared

• Sally J. Rogers

  University of California, Davis

  300 shared

• Susan M. Havercamp

  The Ohio State University

  292 shared

• Giacomo Vivanti

  Drexel University

  290 shared

Labs

• Roberts LaboratoryPI

Education

• PhD

  Cambridge University

  1992

• BA

  Cambridge University

  1988