Christopher R. Shelton
Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology @Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
Signup · Get unlimited contacts
WORK HISTORY
Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology @Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
Erie, PA, US
Tenured faculty leader driving the integration of digital health tools and immersive technology into clinical training and research.• Clinical R&D: Leading interdisciplinary research on digital therapeutics, including VR-based stress reduction and perinatal mental health screening tools for underserved populations.• Curriculum Innovation: Modernizing the psychology curriculum by integrating VR/XR simulations, treating the classroom as a testing ground for adoption and engagement strategies.• Workforce Pipeline: Mentoring graduate and undergraduate researchers, producing a talent pipeline of graduates who advance into top roles in industry, academia, and clinical practice.• Institutional Service: Serving as a primary advocate for campus-wide technology adoption, ethics governance, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
EDUCATION
University of Wyoming
Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
Northern Illinois University
Bachelor of Arts - BA
Eastern Illinois University
Master of Arts - MA
ABOUT CHRISTOPHER R. SHELTON
I am a clinical psychologist and product, program, and portfolio leader who builds AI and digital health ecosystems that can be deployed responsibly, not just demonstrated.As Founder and Director of VAR Lab (The Emerging Technologies Hub) at Penn State, I have built the infrastructure, governance, and partnerships needed to move emerging tech into real use. I took an initial seed investment and grew it into $2.32M+ in documented institutional value (approximately a 129x multiple) through grants, gifts, and corporate-sponsored work.My focus is operationalizing technology to drive measurable outcomes:• Retention: Built a workforce development model with a 98.56% second-year retention rate across ten cohorts of student researchers, over 20 points above the college average.• Scale: Supported XR-integrated course assignments reaching 2,750+ students over five semesters, with adoption workflows that faculty and staff can repeat.• Governance: Established practical tool evaluation, privacy and data-handling workflows, IRB readiness, and human-in-the-loop safeguards. In digital wellness contexts, my work is informed by HIPAA expectations and FDA-adjacent validation pathways.I work easily across Engineering, Product, and Clinical teams. My goal is straightforward: build technology that is clinically responsible, operationally feasible, and scalable.Core Competencies:• AI Strategy & Governance: Responsible AI, privacy infrastructure, local LLMs, and human-in-the-loop workflows.• Product & Portfolio Leadership: Managing cross-functional teams (30+ direct reports), diverse project portfolios, and agile delivery.• Clinical Innovation & Evidence: Bridging the gap between R&D and real-world deployment (clinical trials, pilots, and scalable adoption).
This profile is compiled from publicly available professional sources. Unifers is not affiliated with or endorsed by LinkedIn. Request removal of this profile.