Geraldine Dawson
William Cleland Distinguished Professor
Geraldine Dawson is the William Cleland Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University, where she also is a Professor of Pediatrics and Psychology & Neuroscience. Dawson also is the Founding Director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, an NIH Autism Center of Excellence, which is an interdisciplinary research program and clinic, aimed to improve the lives of those diagnosed with autism through research, education, clinical services, and policy. Dawson received a Ph.D. in Developmental and Child Clinical Psychology from the University of Washington and completed a clinical internship at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute.
Dawson's work focuses on improving methods for early detection and intervention for autism, understanding brain function in autism, and validation of autism EEG biomarkers. She co-developed the Early Start Denver Model, an empirically-validated early autism intervention that is used worldwide. She collaborates with colleagues in the departments of computer science and engineering, pediatrics, and biostatistics to develop novel digital health approaches to autism screening and outcome monitoring.
Dawson previously served as Director of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, President of the International Society for Autism Research, and was appointed by the US Secretary of Health as a member of the NIH Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) which develops the federal strategic plan for autism research, services, and policy. Dawson is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was Founding Director of the University of Washington (UW) Autism Center and the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development. Dawson's awards include the American Psychological Association Distinguished Career Award (Div53); Association for Psychological Science Lifetime Achievement Award; Clarivate Top 1% Cited Researcher Across All Scientific Fields; among others. Dawson is a Fellow of the International Society for Autism Research, the American Psychological Society, and the American Psychological Association.
Appointments and Affiliations
- William Cleland Distinguished Professor
- Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
- Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
- Professor in Pediatrics
- Affiliate, Duke Global Health Institute
- Affiliate of the Center for Child and Family Policy
Contact Information
- Office Location: 2608 Erwin Road, Suite 300, Duke University Med Center, Durham, NC 27705
- Office Phone: +1 919 684 3165
- Email Address: geraldine.dawson@duke.edu
- Websites:
Education
- University of California, Los Angeles, 1980
- Ph.D. University of Washington, 1979
Research Interests
Autism, neuroscienceAwards, Honors, and Distinctions
- Elected. American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 2020
- Distinguished Career Award. American Psychological Association. 2019
- Top 1% Most-Cited Researcher Across All Fields. Clarivate Analytics. 2017
- President. International Society for Autism Research. 2015
- James McKeen Cattell Lifetime Achievement Award. Association for Psychological Science. 2012
- Fellow. Association for Psychological Science. 2006
- Fellow. Association for Psychological Science. 2006
Courses Taught
- PSY 494: Research Independent Study
- PSY 493: Research Independent Study
- PSY 393: Research Independent Study
- PSY 203: Practicum
In the News
- A 10-Minute App Can Screen for Autism (Oct 3, 2023 | Pratt School of Engineering)
- Harnessing Electronic Health Record Data for Earlier Autism Detection (Feb 14, 2023 | School of Medicine)
- Duke Scholars Using Internal Seed Grants to Build Foundation for Collaborative Research (Nov 21, 2022 | Duke Interdisciplinary Studies)
- Duke Awarded $12M Research Grant to Use Artificial Intelligence to Detect Autism (Sep 7, 2022 | Duke Health News)
- Study Shows Smartphone App Can Identify Autism Symptoms in Toddlers (May 5, 2021 | Duke Health News)
- Using Data Science for Early Detection of Autism (Apr 2, 2021 | Duke Research Blog)
- Check This Out! Autism screening app for babies (Nov 29, 2020)
- Children With Autism, ADHD Have More Doctor and Hospital Visits During Infancy (Oct 19, 2020 | Duke Health News)
- Cord Blood Study Provides Insights on Benefits, Limitations for Autism Treatment (May 19, 2020 | Duke Health News)
- Price, Kornbluth and Six Senior Faculty Join American Academy of Arts & Sciences (Apr 23, 2020)
- Brain Science Seed Grants Lay Foundation for Large Competitive Grants (Mar 31, 2020 | Duke Institute for Brain Sciences)
- Harnessing the Power of Machine Learning for Earlier Autism Diagnosis (Dec 9, 2019 | School of Medicine)
- Global List of Highly Cited Puts Duke in Top Ten (Nov 19, 2019)
- Speeding Autism Diagnosis, Improving Outcomes Using Machine Learning (Jul 16, 2019)
- Geri Dawson Named Director of Duke Institute for Brain Sciences (Jun 6, 2019)
- Challenging the Way People Think about ‘Normal’ (Apr 18, 2019)
- Duke Faculty Plentiful On ‘Highly Cited’ List (Nov 27, 2018)
- Mobile App for Autism Screening Yields Useful Data (Jun 1, 2018)
- Duke Launches Marcus Center for Cellular Cures to Tackle Autism, MS, Stroke (May 9, 2018 | Duke School of Medicine)
- Geraldine Dawson Attends Global Autism Event at UN (Apr 9, 2018 | Duke Institute for Brain Sciences)
- Duke Receives $12.5 Million to Study Children With Autism and ADHD (Sep 7, 2017 | Duke Health News)
- New Hope for Autism - Geraldine Dawson (Jun 20, 2016)
- Dr. Geraldine Dawson: Should all babies be screened for autism? (Feb 17, 2016 | TIME)
- Geraldine Dawson comments: The Israeli army unit that recruits teens with autism (Jan 8, 2016 | The Atlantic)
- Duke Launches Autism Research App (Oct 14, 2015)
- Raleigh parents find comfort in Duke care for autistic son (Aug 21, 2015 | WTVD)
- Duke Joins Partnership in NIH-Funded Study of Autism Biomarkers in Children (Jul 20, 2015)
- Geraldine Dawson comments: Guinea pigs are autistic child’s best friend (Jun 30, 2015 | The New York Times)
- Allen Song Named Interim Director of Brain Institute (Jun 26, 2015)
- Music Therapy Program Helps Kids With Autism Socialize (Mar 30, 2015 | Techie News)
- Chasing the Next Autism Breakthrough (Mar 18, 2015 | Duke Magazine)
Representative Publications
- Griffin, JW; Webb, SJ; Keehn, B; Dawson, G; McPartland, JC, Autistic Individuals Do Not Alter Visual Processing Strategy During Encoding Versus Recognition of Faces: A Hidden Markov Modeling Approach., J Autism Dev Disord (2024) [10.1007/s10803-024-06259-9] [abs].
- Posner, J; Dawson, G, Addressing the Gap in Research Training in Child Psychiatry and Neurodevelopment., J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, vol 63 no. 2 (2024), pp. 105-108 [10.1016/j.jaac.2023.05.026] [abs].
- Brandsen, S; Chandrasekhar, T; Franz, L; Grapel, J; Dawson, G; Carlson, D, Prevalence of bias against neurodivergence-related terms in artificial intelligence language models., Autism Res, vol 17 no. 2 (2024), pp. 234-248 [10.1002/aur.3094] [abs].
- Franz, L; Viljoen, M; Askew, S; Brown, M; Dawson, G; Di Martino, JM; Sapiro, G; Sebolai, K; Seris, N; Shabalala, N; Stahmer, A; Turner, EL; de Vries, PJ, Autism Caregiver Coaching in Africa (ACACIA): Protocol for a type 1-hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial., PLoS One, vol 19 no. 1 (2024) [10.1371/journal.pone.0291883] [abs].
- Gu, Z; Dawson, G; Engelhard, M, Sex differences in the age of childhood autism diagnosis and the impact of co-occurring conditions., Autism Res, vol 16 no. 12 (2023), pp. 2391-2402 [10.1002/aur.3043] [abs].