Dr. Parker is Associate Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University where she directs the Social Neurosciences Research Program and Chairs the Major Laboratories Steering Committee. Dr. Parker's research expertise is the biology of social functioning, with a particular interest in oxytocin and vasopressin signaling pathways. Her preclinical research program focuses on developing novel animal models; her clinical research program encompasses biomarker discovery and therapeutic testing in patients with neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Dr. Parker’s research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Simons Foundation, and Department of Defense, published in leading scientific journals, and featured across diverse media outlets (e.g., NPR, CBS, New York Times, LA Times, Science, Scientific American). Dr. Parker received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Michigan. She completed postdoctoral training at Stanford University and joined the Stanford faculty thereafter. She is an Affiliate Scientist at the California National Primate Research Center, an elected member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP), and a Kavli fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. She has attended key opinion leader meetings at the U.S. National Academies, NIH,, and private foundations, and has held leadership roles on international animal research advisory committees (e.g., Society for Neuroscience’s CAR, ACNP’s ARC).