Shelley C Heaton, Ph.D.

Dr. Shelley Heaton is Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Clinical & Health Psychology at the University of Florida (UF), where she mentors doctoral students, teaches, engages in collaborate research, maintains a busy clinical neuropsychology practice, and provides specialized training in pediatric neuropsychology. Dr. Heaton is active in professional service, both nationally and locally. She has been a Consulting Editor to the Child Neuropsychology journal since 2006, and has served Division 40 of the American Psychological Association (APA) in several capacities over the past 10 years. Dr. Heaton has also provided valuable service to the UF community through her work with the Disability Resource Center and the McNair Scholarship Program. Dr. Heaton received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 2001 from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) after completing an internship in neuropsychology at the University of Florida (UF). Her areas of clinical and scientific interest include: Adult Cortical Mapping & Awake Craniotomy Support Services, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Epilepsy Across the Lifespan, Pediatric Neuropsychology, Developmental Disorders, Pediatric Brain Tumors and Cancer, Attention and Memory Impairments in Childhood Conditions, Measurement Issues Pertaining to Cognition, and Forensic Pediatric Neuropsychology.

Dr. Heaton is a neuropsychologist who practices at UF Health Shands Hospital and offers outpatient services through the UFHealth Psychology Specialties clinic located within the UF Health Science Center.

Dr. Heaton’s primary outpatient practice involves provision of pediatric neuropsychological assessments for youth across a broad range of ages (6 months of age through early adulthood) and referral reasons. Many of her pediatric neuropsychology assessment referrals come from the Shands & UF Hospital Pediatric Neurology, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, other pediatric medical specialties, as well as frequent referrals from pediatricians and health providers in the community.

Dr. Heaton also provides specialty services to the Neurosurgery Department, assisting with cortical mapping procedures for adults undergoing brain surgery for tumors located within critical eloquent cortex regions.

Dr. Heaton values interdisciplinary work in serving the needs of youth experiencing neurocognitive difficulties. As such, she serves as a clinical member of three important interdisciplinary pediatric programs at the University of Florida: the UF Craniofacial Clinic, the ADHD Program (which provides services to children diagnosed with ADHD), and the UF Multidisciplinary Diagnostic & Treatment Program (MDTP; which provides services to youth experiencing complex learning and academic difficulties).

In addition to her diverse outpatient pediatric neuropsychology assessment practice, Dr. Heaton conducts UF Health Shands Hospital inpatient consultations and neurocognitive assessments for youth (birth to age 21) who are being treated for acute severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) as part of the Shands & UF Hospital Level I Trauma Center and Florida Brain & Spinal Cord Injury Program.

In addition to neuropsychological assessment, Dr. Heaton provides clinical supervision to psychology doctoral students and interns providing psychotherapy services to a very broad range of clients of varying ages and presenting problems, including therapy with children, adolescents, adults, families and couples.

Dr. Heaton is an avid collaborator on a variety of internally and externally funded research studies, providing expertise on neuropsychological measurement across the lifespan. Her research endeavors have been quite diverse (ranging from her early work studying the neuropsychology of adult schizophrenia to her ongoing independent research examining cognitive and behavioral outcomes after pediatric traumatic brain injury). During her time at UF, Dr. Heaton’s research has primarily focused on novel ways to measure cognitive functioning (“outcome”) after neurological insult, studying short and long-term outcomes after traumatic brain injury across the lifespan, and examining the relationship between attention, executive and memory functions in pediatric conditions. Aside from her independent research and collaborations with many professions within UF Health Shands Hospital and the UF Health Science Center, Dr. Heaton also has provided research mentorship to more than three dozen UF undergraduate students conducting senior honor’s theses and doctoral students within the Department of Clinical & Health Psychology.