Elise Robinson at the Broad Institute for Spectrum News
May 15, 2020

Elise Robinson, seen here in her home with daughter Claire Byron, age 5, in Wellesley, Massachusetts, on Wed., March 11, 2020, is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Robinson say she likes to be surrounded by plants when she works, and she works from home one or two days a week. She is also an affiliated faculty member with the Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. From the Broad Institute website, Robinson's lab "uses techniques from statistical genetics and epidemiology to study how common and rare genetic risk factors for severe neuropsychiatric disorders may differ, and develops approaches for examining these questions in large samples." She is currently the lead of a massive neurodevelopment study in Africa that aims to study populations underrepresented in previous neurodevelopment studies.
Elise Robinson works in her office where she keeps a few potted succulents at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Tue., March 10, 2020. Robinson is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. She is also an affiliated faculty member with the Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. From the Broad Institute website, Robinson's lab "uses techniques from statistical genetics and epidemiology to study how common and rare genetic risk factors for severe neuropsychiatric disorders may differ, and develops approaches for examining these questions in large samples." She is currently the lead of a massive neurodevelopment study in Africa that aims to study populations underrepresented in previous neurodevelopment studies.

For Spectrum News, I photographed Elise Robinson, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and her beautiful array of plants in her office and at home. Her work focuses on genetic variants that may contribute to autism. You can read the profile at Spectrum News: Elise Robinson: Untangling the roots of cause and effect.

A big thanks to Rebecca for getting in touch for the assignment, and to Elise and her team for being so generous with their time.

Elise Robinson (right) speaks with Rosy Hosking (left) and postdoc Celia van der Merwe while outside Robinson's office at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Tue., March 10, 2020. Hosking is Manager of Scientific Operations and Programming for the Broad Institute's Stanley Center of Pyschiatric Research. Robinson is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Robinson say she likes to be surrounded by plants when she works, and she works from home one or two days a week. She is also an affiliated faculty member with the Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. From the Broad Institute website, Robinson's lab "uses techniques from statistical genetics and epidemiology to study how common and rare genetic risk factors for severe neuropsychiatric disorders may differ, and develops approaches for examining these questions in large samples." She is currently the lead of a massive neurodevelopment study in Africa that aims to study populations underrepresented in previous neurodevelopment studies.
Books on genetics and biology are seen on a bookshelf in the office of Elise Robinson at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Tue., March 10, 2020. Robinson is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. She is also an affiliated faculty member with the Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. From the Broad Institute website, Robinson's lab "uses techniques from statistical genetics and epidemiology to study how common and rare genetic risk factors for severe neuropsychiatric disorders may differ, and develops approaches for examining these questions in large samples." She is currently the lead of a massive neurodevelopment study in Africa that aims to study populations underrepresented in previous neurodevelopment studies.
Elise Robinson (right) speaks with postdoc Celia van der Merwe (from right) while Program Coordinator Rene Lepore works nearby in the Robinson lab at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Tue., March 10, 2020. The group was discussing a grant proposal by van der Merwe. Robinson is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Robinson say she likes to be surrounded by plants when she works, and she works from home one or two days a week. She is also an affiliated faculty member with the Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. From the Broad Institute website, Robinson's lab "uses techniques from statistical genetics and epidemiology to study how common and rare genetic risk factors for severe neuropsychiatric disorders may differ, and develops approaches for examining these questions in large samples." She is currently the lead of a massive neurodevelopment study in Africa that aims to study populations underrepresented in previous neurodevelopment studies.
Elise Robinson holds a growing lemon on of the fruit trees in her home in Wellesley, Massachusetts, on Wed., March 11, 2020. Robinson is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Robinson say she likes to be surrounded by plants when she works, and she works from home one or two days a week. She is also an affiliated faculty member with the Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. From the Broad Institute website, Robinson's lab "uses techniques from statistical genetics and epidemiology to study how common and rare genetic risk factors for severe neuropsychiatric disorders may differ, and develops approaches for examining these questions in large samples." She is currently the lead of a massive neurodevelopment study in Africa that aims to study populations underrepresented in previous neurodevelopment studies.
Succulents and her children's art work are seen in the office of Elise Robinson at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Tue., March 10, 2020. Robinson is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. She is also an affiliated faculty member with the Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. From the Broad Institute website, Robinson's lab "uses techniques from statistical genetics and epidemiology to study how common and rare genetic risk factors for severe neuropsychiatric disorders may differ, and develops approaches for examining these questions in large samples." She is currently the lead of a massive neurodevelopment study in Africa that aims to study populations underrepresented in previous neurodevelopment studies.
Elise Robinson, seen here in her home in Wellesley, Massachusetts, on Wed., March 11, 2020, is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Robinson say she likes to be surrounded by plants when she works, and she works from home one or two days a week. She is also an affiliated faculty member with the Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. From the Broad Institute website, Robinson's lab "uses techniques from statistical genetics and epidemiology to study how common and rare genetic risk factors for severe neuropsychiatric disorders may differ, and develops approaches for examining these questions in large samples." She is currently the lead of a massive neurodevelopment study in Africa that aims to study populations underrepresented in previous neurodevelopment studies.
Elise Robinson works in her office where she keeps a few potted succulents at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Tue., March 10, 2020. Robinson is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. She is also an affiliated faculty member with the Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. From the Broad Institute website, Robinson's lab "uses techniques from statistical genetics and epidemiology to study how common and rare genetic risk factors for severe neuropsychiatric disorders may differ, and develops approaches for examining these questions in large samples." She is currently the lead of a massive neurodevelopment study in Africa that aims to study populations underrepresented in previous neurodevelopment studies.
A variety of plants, including succulents and fruit trees, are seen in the home of Elise Robinson, in Wellesley, Massachusetts, on Wed., March 11, 2020. Robinson is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Robinson say she likes to be surrounded by plants when she works, and she works from home one or two days a week. She is also an affiliated faculty member with the Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. From the Broad Institute website, Robinson's lab "uses techniques from statistical genetics and epidemiology to study how common and rare genetic risk factors for severe neuropsychiatric disorders may differ, and develops approaches for examining these questions in large samples." She is currently the lead of a massive neurodevelopment study in Africa that aims to study populations underrepresented in previous neurodevelopment studies.
Elise Robinson, seen here in her office at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Tue., March 10, 2020, is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. She is also an affiliated faculty member with the Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. From the Broad Institute website, Robinson's lab "uses techniques from statistical genetics and epidemiology to study how common and rare genetic risk factors for severe neuropsychiatric disorders may differ, and develops approaches for examining these questions in large samples." She is currently the lead of a massive neurodevelopment study in Africa that aims to study populations underrepresented in previous neurodevelopment studies.
All content © 2005-2025 M. Scott Brauer