Skip to main content

Lauren Franz

Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Psychiatry, Child & Family Mental Health & Community Psychiatry
Box 3837 Med Ctr, Durham, NC 27710
Dept of Psychiatry, Durham, NC 27710

Overview


Dr Franz's research focuses on improving access to evidence-based services and support for neurodevelopmental disabilities, including autism, in low-resource, local and global communities.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences · 2023 - Present Psychiatry, Child & Family Mental Health & Community Psychiatry, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Associate Research Professor of Global Health · 2023 - Present Duke Global Health Institute, University Institutes and Centers
Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences · 2019 - Present Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, University Institutes and Centers

In the News


Published September 15, 2021
Raising the Bar on Global Disability Services
Published January 12, 2021
Parenting for a Child With Autism During the COVID Pandemic

View All News

Recent Publications


Adapting an early autism caregiver coaching intervention for telehealth delivery in low-resource settings: A South African study of the 'what' and the 'why'.

Journal Article Autism · May 2025 The COVID-19 pandemic required in-person interventions to be adapted for remote delivery all over the globe. In South Africa, an in-person cascaded task-sharing naturalistic developmental behavioural intervention was adapted for telehealth delivery in a lo ... Full text Link to item Cite

Autism Digital Phenotyping in Preschool- and School-Age Children.

Journal Article Autism Res · April 2, 2025 There is a critical need for scalable and objective tools for autism screening and outcome monitoring, which can be used alongside traditional caregiver and clinical measures. To address this need, we developed SenseToKnow, a tablet- or smartphone-based di ... Full text Link to item Cite

Behavioral characteristics of toddlers later identified with an autism diagnosis, ADHD symptoms, or combined autism and ADHD symptoms.

Journal Article J Child Psychol Psychiatry · February 2025 BACKGROUND: Autism commonly co-occurs with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but less is known regarding how ADHD symptoms impact the early presentation of autism. This study examined early behavioral characteristics of a community sample of ... Full text Link to item Cite
View All Publications

Recent Grants


Duke-NCCU Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Training Program in Child Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Conditions Program (DN-IPT)

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPreceptor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029

Duke University Psychiatry Physician-Scientist Residency Training Program

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institute of Mental Health · 2024 - 2029

Electrophysiological biomarkers of social engagement in autism

ResearchCo-Mentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2028

View All Grants

Education, Training & Certifications


Stellenbosch University (South Africa) · 2002 M.B.B.Ch.