Selected Publications

The following is a selected list of publications related to the Duke Autism Center of Excellence research projects. To see all publications authored by a particular investigator, visit our Leadership and Faculty page and search for the individual by name. 

You can also see plain language summaries of select publications.

• Aikat, V., Carpenter, K. L. H., Babu, P. R. K., Di Martino, J. M., Espinosa, S., Compton, S., Davis, N., Franz, L., Spanos, M., Sapiro, G., & Dawson, G. (2025). Autism Digital Phenotyping in Preschool‐ and School‐Age Children. Autism Research, aur.70032. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.70032

• Brandsen, S., Chandrasekhar, T., Franz, L., Grapel, J., Dawson, G., & Carlson, D. (2024). Prevalence of bias against neurodivergence‐related terms in artificial intelligence language models. Autism Research, 17(2), 234–248. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.3094

• Carpenter, K. L. H., Davis, N. O., Spanos, M., Sabatos-DeVito, M., Aiello, R., Baranek, G. T., Compton, S. N., Egger, H. L., Franz, L., Kim, S.-J., King, B. H., Kolevzon, A., McDougle, C. J., Sanders, K., Veenstra-VanderWeele, J., Sikich, L., Kollins, S. H., & Dawson, G. (2024). Adaptive Behavior in Young Autistic Children: Associations with Irritability and ADHD Symptoms. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 54(9), 3559–3566. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05753-2

• Carpenter, K. L. H., Davis, N. O., Spanos, M., Sabatos-DeVito, M., Aiello, R., Compton, S. N., Franz, L., Schechter, J. C., Summers, J., & Dawson, G. (2024). Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome in Young Autistic Children, Children with ADHD, and Autistic Children with ADHD. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2024.2361715

• Carson, W. E., Major, S., Akkineni, H., Fung, H., Peters, E., Carpenter, K. L. H., Dawson, G., & Carlson, D. E. (2024). Model selection to achieve reproducible associations between resting state EEG features and autism. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 25301. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-76659-5

• Davis, N. O., Carpenter, K. L. H., Sabatos-DeVito, M., Spanos, M., Reed, A., Aiello, R. E., Schechter, J. C., Chandrasekhar, T., Compton, S., Franz, L., Goldstein, B. A., Howard, J., Vermeer, S., Sikich, L., Kollins, S. H., & Dawson, G. (2025). Assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Young Autistic Children. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2025.2521856

• Davis, N. O., Lerebours, R., Aiello, R. E., Carpenter, K. L. H., Compton, S., Franz, L., Kollins, S. H., Sabatos‐DeVito, M., Spanos, M., & Dawson, G. (2025). Behavioral characteristics of toddlers later identified with an autism diagnosis, ADHD symptoms, or combined autism and ADHD symptoms. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 66(2), 214–224. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.14050

• Huang, W. A., Engelhard, M., Coffman, M., Hill, E. D., Weng, Q., Scheer, A., Maslow, G., Henao, R., Dawson, G., & Goldstein, B. A. (2024). A conditional multi-label model to improve prediction of a rare outcome: An illustration predicting autism diagnosis. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 157, 104711. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2024.104711

• Isaev, D. Yu., Sabatos-DeVito, M., Di Martino, J. M., Carpenter, K., Aiello, R., Compton, S., Davis, N., Franz, L., Sullivan, C., Dawson, G., & Sapiro, G. (2024). Computer Vision Analysis of Caregiver–Child Interactions in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Preliminary Report. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 54(6), 2286–2297. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-023-05973-0

• Krishnappa Babu, P. R., Di Martino, J. M., Aiello, R., Eichner, B., Espinosa, S., Green, J., Howard, J., Perochon, S., Spanos, M., Vermeer, S., Dawson, G., & Sapiro, G. (2024). Validation of a Mobile App for Remote Autism Screening in Toddlers. NEJM AI, 1(10). https://doi.org/10.1056/AIcs2400510

• Loh, D. R., Hill, E. D., Liu, N., Dawson, G., & Engelhard, M. M. (2025). Limitations of Binary Classification for Long-Horizon Diagnosis Prediction and Advantages of a Discrete-Time Time-to-Event Approach: Empirical Analysis. JMIR AI, 4, e62985–e62985. https://doi.org/10.2196/62985

• Marryat, J., Davis, N. O., Lerebours, R., Carpenter, K. L. H., Compton, S., Eichner, B., Franz, L., Kollins, S. H., Spanos, M., & Dawson, G. (2024). Brief Report: Relationships Between Caregiver-Reported Externalizing and Internalizing Behaviors and the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06453-9

• Moreno-Duarte, I., Brandsen, S., Dawson, G., Einhorn, L. M., & Swaminathan, M. (2024). Integrating tailored approaches in perioperative care strategies for neurodivergent individuals. eClinicalMedicine, 76, 102846. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2024.102846

• Posner, J., & Dawson, G. (2024). Addressing the Gap in Research Training in Child Psychiatry and Neurodevelopment. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 63(2), 105–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2023.05.026

• Zhu, Y., Davis, N. O., Franz, L., Goldstein, B., Green, J., Herkert, D., Howard, J., Reed, A., Spanos, M., & Dawson, G. (2024). Factors Associated with Caregivers’ Decisions to Pursue a Diagnostic Evaluation After a Positive Autism Screen in Primary Care. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06582-1

• Fannin, D. K., Williams, E.-D. G., Fuller, M., Pearson, J. N., Boyd, B. A., Drame, E. R., Taylor, J., Dickerson, A. S., Spinks-Franklin, A., & Coles-White, D. J. (2024). Unpacking the prevalence: A warning against overstating the recently narrowed gap for Black autistic youth. Autism Research, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.3168

• Chandrasekhar, Tara, and Qin Hu. “Meeting the mental health needs of autistic college students: a survey of university and college counseling center clinicians.” J Am Coll Health 72, no. 1 (January 2024): 40–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2021.2013239.

• Brandsen, S., K. Blackshear, R. Coleman, S. Hallur, and T. Chandrasekhar. “Developing an Inclusive Campus for Autistic Students.” Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, January 1, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000551.

• Franz, Lauren, Marisa Viljoen, Sandy Askew, Musaddiqah Brown, Geraldine Dawson, J Matias Di Martino, Guillermo Sapiro, et al. “Autism Caregiver Coaching in Africa (ACACIA): Protocol for a type 1-hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial.” PLoS One 19, no. 1 (2024): e0291883. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291883.