Professor and Director of the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute
Community Health & Prevention
dlr76@drexel.edu
Degrees
PhD, Clinical Psychology with Concentration in Clinical Neuropsychology, University of ConnecticutMA, Clinical Psychology, University of ConnecticutBA, Psychology and Neuroscience, Oberlin College
Bio
Diana L. Robins, PhD, MA, is a Professor in the Department of Community Health and Prevention in the Dornsife School of Public Health and the Director of the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute at Drexel University, where she founded the Research Program in Early Detection and Intervention for autism in 2014.
Much of her work has centered around developing, validating, and refining a widely-used screening tool for ASD, the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, or M-CHAT. The original M-CHAT paper has been cited more than 2000 times, and the validation of the screener’s revision, M-CHAT-R with Follow-Up (M-CHAT-R/F), demonstrated that the 2-stage screening questionnaire detects many cases of autism, and children in the study were diagnosed about two years younger than the national median, which improves access to ASD-specific early intervention. Current studies examine the relationship between early detection of autism strategies in primary care and outcomes for autistic children.
Dr. Robins received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology, with an emphasis in Clinical Neuropsychology from the University of Connecticut. Following her APA-approved internship at the University of Florida Health Sciences Center, Dr. Robins completed a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Yale University School of Medicine Child Study Center. She then spent 10 years on the faculty at Georgia State University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Institute, before moving to Drexel University in 2014.
Research Interests
Publications
Select Publications:
de Marchena A, Wieckowski AT, Freedman B, Shea L, Locke J, Cronholm PF, Leff SS, Vivanti G, Robins DL. From Waiting to Action: Why the Autism Field Must Embrace Efficient Service Delivery Models for Diagnostic Assessment. Autism. 2026 Aug 12:13623613261474938. doi: 10.1177/13623613261474938. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 42586952.
de Marchena A, Wieckowski AT, Dickerson AF, Cheng HS, Perez Liz G, Dubin A, Vivanti G, Barton M, Fein D, Robins DL. Preliminary Reliability and Validity of the M-CHAT-S, a New Autism Screening Tool for School-Aged Children. Autism. 2026 Jul 22:13623613261464200. doi: 10.1177/13623613261464200. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 42487298.
Bacopoulou F, Dimitriou D, Robins DL, Christou AI, Xenopoulou T, Prapas C, Efthymiou V. Validation of the Updated (March 2025) Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised, with Follow-Up (M-CHAT-R/F) in Greek. Children (Basel). 2026 Apr 27;13(5):606. doi: 10.3390/children13050606. PMID: 42194132; PMCID: PMC13204686.
Perez Liz G, Wieckowski AT, Austin A, Dickerson AF, Frick E, Dubin A, de Marchena A, Robins DL. Confidence of Pediatric Primary Care Clinicians in Autism Screener Score and Their Own Diagnostic Impressions. Behav Sci (Basel). 2026 Feb 17;16(2):289. doi: 10.3390/bs16020289. PMID: 41750098; PMCID: PMC12937689.
Wieckowski AT, Perez Liz G, McGhee Hassrick E, Koku E, Frick E, Austin A, Robins DL. Navigating the Challenges: A Commentary on Barriers to Autism Screening in Childcare Centers. Behav Sci (Basel). 2026 Jan 6;16(1):79. doi: 10.3390/bs16010079. PMID: 41595020; PMCID: PMC12837287.
Resnikoff AW, Colantuono V, Wieckowski AT, Chernak E, Plumb J, Baynard M, Sheridan E, Robins DL. Reported Barriers and Facilitators for Autistic Individuals, Persons with Other Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, and Their Caregivers to Receive the COVID-19 Vaccine: A Pilot Study. J Autism Dev Disord. 2025 Dec;55(12):4291-4303. doi: 10.1007/s10803-024-06506-z. Epub 2024 Aug 16. PMID: 39150481; PMCID: PMC12589220.
Wieckowski AT, Brown M, Register H, Fein D, Stahmer AC, McClure LA, Dufek S, Robins DL. What Happens After Autism Screening-Factors That Predict Evaluation Attendance. J Autism Dev Disord. 2025 Nov 28. doi: 10.1007/s10803-025-07143-w. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41313576.
Vivanti G, Lombardo MV, Zitter A, Boyd B, Dissanayake C, Dufek S, Flanagan HE, Iadarola S, Kaiser A, Kim SH, Levato L, Lord C, Plavnick J, Robins DL, Rogers SJ, Smith IM, Smith T, Stahmer A, Watson L. Proportion and Profile of Autistic Children Not Acquiring Spoken Language Despite Receiving Evidence-Based Early Interventions. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2025 Nov 20:1-18. doi: 10.1080/15374416.2025.2579286. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41264359; PMCID: PMC12681502.
Porto KS, Wieckowski AT, Fein DA, Barton ML, Baranek GT, Robins DL. Comparison of Available Tools to Screen for Autism at 12 and 15 Months. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2025 Nov-Dec 01;46(6):e564-e571. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000001406. Epub 2025 Aug 1. PMID: 40758867; PMCID: PMC12908181.
Wieckowski AT, de Marchena A, Dickerson AF, Frick E, Perez Liz G, Dubin A, Robins DL. Autism diagnostic impressions in young children formed by primary care clinicians and through telemedicine expert assessments. Autism. 2025 Nov;29(11):2898-2905. doi: 10.1177/13623613251355257. Epub 2025 Jul 8. PMID: 40629680.
View Dr. Robins's complete list of publications on PubMed