Schrauwen is a human geneticist with a research emphasis on studying the pathogenic mechanisms associated with disorders related to the nervous system, development and sensory functions. She employs both family-based and population-based methods to identify genetic factors involved in these disorders. Schrauwen received her doctorate in biomedical sciences at the Center of Medical Genetics of the University of Antwerp, Belgium. She performed postdoctoral training at the University of Antwerp and at the Translational Genomics Research Institute or TGen in Phoenix, Arizona. She currently is an asistant professor at the Center of Statistical Genetics, Neurology Department, Columbia University in New York City.