Center News

Originally from the scenic town of Black Mountain in Western North Carolina, Elias Peters brings a thoughtful and curious spirit to his work at the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development. Elias earned his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill, with minors in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science. After college, he worked in scientific consulting for clinical trials, reviewing neurocognitive assessments. Though the work was meaningful, Elias felt drawn to academic research and made the leap—traveling, editing academic manuscripts, and eventually finding his way to Duke.

Ushering in the second season of Beyond the Endpoint, Lauren Franz, MBChB, MPH, interim director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, joins Manesh Patel and Emily O'Brien for an in-depth conversation about autism research, care, and community.

Doctors sometimes use a binary “yes or no” classification to predict a long-term diagnosis using patient records, but this model doesn’t work well when patients stop coming in for visits, leaving incomplete data.

Raghav Swaminathan has been a valued member of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development since 2017. A Durham native, Raghav attended Pace Academy in Carrboro before completing a certificate program in Integrated Community Studies at Clemson University.

Faculty from the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development led the initiative with funding from an Office of Faculty Advancement Seed Grant: Increasing Neurodiversity Competency of Faculty at Duke University. 

Center for Autism team members included Geraldine Dawson, PhD, Tara Chandrasekhar, MD, and Marika Coffman, PhD with collaboration from Minna Ng, PhD, in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience.

This enlightening Raise the Line episode with host Lindsey Smith is loaded with the latest understandings about Autism Spectrum Disorder, including advancements in early diagnosis aided by artificial intelligence that include a smartphone app parents can use at home. Dr. Geraldine Dawson, founding director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development also shares advancements in early therapeutic interventions and explains what has contributed to a near tripling of diagnoses over the past two decades.

Anna Laakman, MEd, was awarded the Karen C. Wells, PhD Professionalism Award for the outstanding professionalism, ethics, and compassion she demonstrated as a 2024-2025 Duke clinical psychology doctoral intern, where she focused on autism.

Gary Maslow, MD, MPH, the Gorrell Family Distinguished Professor in Children’s Psychiatry, received the 2025 Outstanding Academic Service Award from the North Carolina Pediatric Society.

Duke researchers created the SenseToKnow app to help spot signs of autism in children by tracking how they interact with the videos and games in the app. The app was first tested with toddlers and showed promising results. In a recent study with kids aged 3 to 8, the app showed clear differences between autistic and non-autistic children. With further testing, the app might be useful for autism detection in older children.