Educational Background and Appointments

• Life Member, Clare Hall, University of Cambridge UK 2018-present
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale University, 1993-1995
• Ph.D., Boston University, 1993
• M.A., Tufts University

Research Interests

My research examines a variety of neurodevelopmental (NDD) and neuropsychiatric disorders (NPD), and emphasizes the continuity between typical and atypical development. I am particularly interested in NDD and NPD that have known genetic/genomic origins, including 16p11.2 deletions and duplications, 15q11-13 (Prader-Willi syndrome, for which I am currently funded through the Foundation for Prader-Willi Research), and Down syndrome (trisomy 21), among others. I have developed and normed several dimensional assessment tools that measure repetitive behaviors and restricted interests, as well as psychosis-spectrum traits. My research uses a variety of tools including behavioral measures, neuropsychological tools, and neuroimaging. Undergraduate or graduate students who are looking for research opportunities and who have interests or experiences in neuroscience, genetics, computer programming and computational sciences, should contact me at dwevans@bucknell.edu. Note that I will be on sabbatical during the 2024-2025 academic year.

Grant Activity

Pending:

Co-investigator:Perception in autism: a neurophysiological examination. Resubmitted to the National Institutes of Mental Health. PI: Dr. Natalie Russo, PhD, Syracuse University.

Funded:

Principal Investigator:Obsessive-compulsive and psychotic-like behaviors across PWS subtypes: Developmental considerations. (April 1, 2024- September, 2025). Budget: $72,984.00.

Principal Investigator: Dimensional analysis of developmental brain disorders using an online, genome-first approach. R01 proposal submitted to NIMH RDoC RFA. $3,214,302.00. Funded. (I wrote this grant as co-PI during a leave of absence; it was eventually proposed as a subcontract for $750,000.00, DLSKS).

Principal Investigator:Functional Imaging and the autism endophenotype. Bucknell-Geisinger Research Initiative. $147,991.88. Funded.

Investigator:Comprehensive phenotypic characterization of the 17q12 deletion syndrome. Simons Foundation for Autism Research (SFARI). $250,000.00 (August 1, 2012-July 31, 2014). Funded.

Principal Investigator:Social-cognitive ability and the autism spectrum: Functional imaging, EEG and genetic variation. Bucknell-Geisinger Research Initiative. $50,000.00 (July 1, 2012-July 1, 2013). Funded.

Principal Investigator:Acquisition of a 32-channel EEG system, Bucknell University (intramural proposal), 2005. $50,000.00. Funded.

Principal Investigator: Scholarly Development Award $4000.00 (2004): Neuropsychological correlates of compulsive behavior in children. Funded.

Principal Investigator: Food neophobia in children. Ethel Ward Research Grant: $2500.00 (2002). Funded.

Principal Investigator: Scholarly Development Award $4000.00 (2001): The development of compulsive behavior in children. Funded.

Principal Investigator: Scholarly Development Award $4000.00 (1999): Fears, phobias and rituals in children. Funded.

Other:

Principal Investigator: Characterizing the spectrum of repetitive behavior and restricted interests in autism spectrum disorders. Simons Foundation for Autism Research $750,000.00 (Not funded; Letter of intent invited for full proposal – Only 25% of LOIs are given full consideration).

Classes Taught

• Introduction to Psychology
• Developmental Psychobiology
• Abnormal Psychology
• Developmental Psychopathology
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Developmental Brain Research
• Applied Research Methods

Selected Publications

BOOKS, MONOGRAPHS, and EDITED VOLUMES

Burack, JA, Iarocci, G., Russo, N., & Evans, DW (Eds). Oxford Handbook of Intellectual Disabilities and Development. Oxford University Press. In progress.

Burack JA, Evans, DW, Iarocci G, Hodapp RM.(Eds) (2023). Ed Zigler’s legacy and the developmental approach to the study of persons with intellectual disability. Special Issue Journal of Intellectual Disabilities Research.

Marsh, HL, Legerstee, M & Evans DW (Eds) (2017). Prelinguistic social cognition: Developmental perspectives. Special Issue: Infant Behavior & Development, 48. Part A. 1-62.

Evans, DW (2000) (Guest Editor). Heinz Werner and his relevance for research and theory in the 21st century. Special issue, Journal of Adult Development, 7(1), 5-6.

Leckman, J.F., Mayes, L.C., Feldman, R., Evans, D.W., King, R.A., & Cohen, D.J. (1999). Early parental preoccupations and behaviors and their possible relationship to the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 100, (Supplementum 396) 1-26.

PEER-REVIEW ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS

Evans, DW., Stuck, H & Mulle, J. (in preparation). Repetitive behavior profiles in 3q29 deletion and duplication syndromes. 

Evans, DW (in preparation). Repetitive behavior and psychosis proneness in 15q11-13 deletion and duplication cases: A longitudinal study.

Evans, DW & Rakauskas, A. (in preparation). Repetitive behavior and psychosis proneness profiles in 16p11.2 deletion and duplication syndromes.

Evans, DW, Crawley, D, Loth, E, Charman, T, Hipp, J, Jones, E, Tillman, J, Buirelaar, J, Murphy, D (in preparation). Factor structures of the Childhood Routines Inventory-Revised and the Adult Routines Inventory in an Autism Sample.

Frazier, TW, Whitehouse, AJO, Leekam, SR, Carrington, SJ, Alvarez, GA, Evans, DW, Hardan, A, Uljaravic, M. (2024). Reliability of the commonly used and newly-developed autism measures. Journal of Autism and Development Disorders, 54, 2158-2169.

Burack, JA, Russo, N, Evans, DW, Boatswain-Jacques, A-F, Rey, G, Iarocci, G, & Hodapp, R. (2024). Cicchetti’s organizational-developmental perspective on Down syndrome: The emergence of developmental psychopathology and the transformation in understanding neurodevelopmental conditions. Special Issue: Development and Psychopathology, 36, 2592-2603.

Napoleon J-S, Evans DW, Weva VK, Francois, T, Namdari, R, Sherman, J, Rimada CM, Moriseau, N, Lafontant, Miller, E, & Burack JA (2024). Re-thinking narratives about youth experiencing homelessness (Part II): The influence of self-determined motivation and peer relations on coping. Journal of Community Psychology, 52, 382-398.

Napoleon J-S, Evans DW, Weva, V, Francois, T., Namdari, R., Sherman, J, Rimada, C., Morsseau N, Lafontant, E, Miller, S, Burack, JA. (2023). Rethinking narratives about youth experiencing homelessness: Exploring essential relationships and resilience. Children and Youth Services Review, 147.

Evans, DW, Burack, JA, Hodapp, R & Iarocci, G. (2023). Ed Zigler’s legacy and the developmental approach to the study of persons with intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 67, 3.

Burack JA, Evans, DW, Russo N, Napoleon, J, Goldman, KJ & Iarocci, G. (2021). Developmental approaches to the study of persons with intellectual disabilities. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 17, 339-363.

Harikumara, A, Evans DW, Dougherty, CC, Carpenter, KLH, Michael, AM. (2021). A review of the default mode network in autism spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Brain Connectivity.

Burack, JA, Evans DW, Napoleon J, Weva V, Russo N, Iarocci G. (2021). The science of humanity and the humanity of science: Ed Zigler’s ongoing legacy in making the world a better place for children. In D. Cicchetti (special issue) A tribute to Edward Zigler’s legacy. Development and Psychopathology, 33, 441-452

Hedley, D., Uljarević, M., Cai, R-Y., Bury, S. M., Stokes, M. A., & Evans, D. W. (2021). Domains of the Autism Spectrum Disorder phenotype, cognitive control, and rumination as transdiagnostic predictors of DSM-5 suicide risk. PLoS ONE, 16(1):e0245562. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245562 

Burack, JA. Evans, DW, Russo, N, Landry O & Iarocci, G. (2020). Edward Zigler’s legacy in the study of persons with intellectual disability: The developmental approach and the advent of a more rigorous and compassionate science. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities Research, 64, 1-6. Doi:10.1111/jir/12703.

Loth E. & Evans, DW (2019). Converting tests of fundamental social, cognitive, and affective processes into clinically useful bio-behavioural markers for neurodevelopmental conditions. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science.

Evans, DW & Uljarević, M (2018). Parental education accounts for variability in the IQs of probands with Down syndrome: A longitudinal study. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A 176(1) 29-33. doi.org/10.1002/ajmg.a.38519.

Evans, DW, Lusk LG, Slane MM, Michael AM, Myers SM, Uljarević M, Mason O, Claridge G, & Frazier T (2018). Dimensional assessment of schizotypal, psychotic, and other psychiatric traits in children and their parents: Development and Validation of the Childhood Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (CO-LIFE) on a Representative U.S. Sample. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 59, 574-585. Doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12827.

Uljaravić M, Hedley D, Nevill R, Evans DW, Butter E, & Mulick J (2018). Poor self-regulation as a predictor of individual differences in adaptive functioning in young children with autism spectrum disorder. Autism Research. doi:10.1002/aur.1953

Evans DW, Uljarević M, Lusk LG, Loth E, & Frazier T (2017). Development of two, dimensional measures of restricted and repetitive behaviors in parents and children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 56, 51-58. doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2016.10.014

Uljarević M, Richdale AL, Ying Cai R, Evans DW & Leekam, SR (2017). Inter-relationship between insistence on sameness, effortful control, and anxiety in adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Molecular Autism, 8, 1-6.

Ousley O, Evans, AN, Fernandez-Carriba S, Smearman E, Rockers K, Evans DW, Coleman K, Cubells J (2017). Examining the overlap between autism spectrum disorder and 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

Evans DW & Marsh HL (2017). A brief introduction to early forms of non-verbal social cognition. Infant Behavior & Development, 48. Part A.

Uljarević, M & Evans DW (2017). Relationship between repetitive behaviours and fear across normative development, autism spectrum disorder and Down syndrome. Autism Research. DOI: 10.1002/aur.1674

Katuwal, GJ, Cahill ND, Baum SA, Dougherty CC, Evans E, Evans DW, Moore GJ, Michael AM. (2017). Inter-method inconsistencies and inter-site variability of brain volume in autism. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 10, 439. doi:10.3389/fnins.2016.00439

Evans DW, Michael AM, Uljarević M, Lusk LG, Buirkle J, & Moore GJ. (2016). Neural substrates of schizophrenia-spectrum behavior in typically-developing children: Further evidence of a normal-pathological continuum. Behavioural Brain Research,315, 141-146. doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2016.08.034

Dougherty C, Evans DW, Katuwal G, Michael, AM (2016). Asymmetry of fusiform structure in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Trajectory and association with symptom severity. Molecular Autism, 7:28. DOI: 10.1186/s13229-016-0089-5

Uljarević M, Evans DW, Alcares G, Whitehouse JO. (2016). Relationship between restricted and repetitive behaviours in children with autism spectrum disorder and their parents. Molecular Autism, 7:29 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-016-0091-y

Dougherty C, Evans DW, Myers SM, Moore GJ, Michael A (2016). A neuroimaging review of autism spectrum disorders and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Neuropsychological Reviews 26, 25-43.

Bernier R, Steinman K, Reilly B, Wallace AS, Sherr EH, Pojman N, Mefford H, Gerdts J, Earl R, Hanson H, Goin-Kochel RP, Green Snyder L, Spence S, Ramocki M,

Evans DW, Martin CL, Ledbetter, DH, Spiro, JE, and & Chung WK (2015). Clinical phenotype of the recurrent 1q21.1 copy number variation. Genetics in Medicine. doi:10.1038/gim.2015.78

Moreno De Luca A*, Evans DW*, Boomer K, Hanson E, Bernier R, Goin-Kochel R, Myers SM, Challman, TD, Moreno De Luca D, Spiro J, Chung W, Martin CL, & Ledbetter DH. (2014). Parental cognitive, behavioral and motor profiles impact the neurodevelopmental profile of individuals with de novo mutations. JAMA Psychiatry. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.2147 [*Co-first authors]

Slane MM*, Boomer KB, Hare A, Lusk L, King, M, & Evans DW*. (2014). Social cognition, face processing and oxytocin receptor single nucleotide polymorphisms in typically-developing children. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 9, 160-171. 10.1016/j.dcn.2014.04.001. [*Co-first authors]

Evans DW, Kleinpeter FL, Slane MM, & Boomer KB. (2014). Adaptive and

maladaptive correlates of repetitive behavior and restricted interests in persons with

Down syndrome and developmentally-matched typical children: A two-year longitudinal sequential design. PLoS One, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093951

Evans DW, Lazar SM, Boomer KB, Mitchel AM, & Moore GJ. (2014). Social cognition and brain morphology: Implications for developmental brain dysfunction. Brain Imaging and Behavior. DOI 10.1007/s11682-014-9304-1

Hanson E, Bernier R, Porche K, Goin-Kochel RP, Snyder LG, Snow-Gallagher A, Wallace AS, Campe K, Zhang Y, Chen Q, Moreno De Luca A, Orr PT, Boomer KB, Evans DW, Martin CL, Ledbetter DH, Spiro J, Chung W. (2014). The cognitive and behavioral phenotype of the 16p11.2 deletion.Biological Psychiatry, 77 (9), 785-793

Evans DW, Lazar SM*, Myers SM, Moreno De Luca A, & Moore GJ (2014). Social cognition and neural substrates of face perception: Implications for neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. Behavioral Brain Research. [*Co-first authors]

Çevikaslan A, Evans DW, Dedeoğlu C, Kalaça S, Yazgan, Y. (2014). A cross sectional survey of repetitive behavior and restricted interests in a typically-developing Turkish population. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 45, 472-482. doi: 10.1007/s10578-013-0417-3.

Hanson E, Bernier R, Porche K, Goin-Kochel RP, Snyder LG, Snow-Gallagher A, Wallace AS, Campe K, Zhang Y, Chen Q, Moreno De Luca A, Orr PT, Boomer KB, Evans DW, Martin CL, Ledbetter DH, Spiro J, Chung W. (2014). The cognitive and behavioral phenotype of the 16p11.2 deletion.Biological Psychiatry, 77 (9), 785-793

Goldin, G., van 't Wout, M., Sloman, S.A., Evans, D.W., Greenberg, B.D., Rasmussen, S.A. (2013). Risk judgment in obsessive-compulsive disorder: Testing a dual-systems account. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 2, 406-411.

Evans DW, Orr PT, Lazar S, Breton D, Gerard J, Batchelder H, Ledbetter D, & Janosco K (2012). Human preferences for symmetry: Subjective experience, cognitive conflict and cortical brain activity. PLoS ONE 7(6): E38966. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038966.

Evans DW & Maliken A (2011). Cortical activity and children’s rituals, habits and other repetitive behavior. Behavioural Brain Research, 224, 174– 179. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2011.05.025

Judge PG, Evans DW, Schroepfer KK, & Gross AC (2011). Reversal-learning perseveration correlates to repetitive behavior in nonhuman primates. Behavioural Brain Research, 222, 54-61.

Evans DW, Hersperger C, & Capaldi P. (2011). Thought-action fusion in children: Measurement, development and association with anxiety, rituals and other compulsive-like behaviors. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 42 12-23.

Pietrefesa A & Evans DW (2007). Affective and neuropsychological correlates of children’s compulsive-like behaviors: continuities and discontinuities with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Brain & Cognition, 65, 36-46.

Evans DW, & Leckman JF (2006). Origins of obsessive-compulsive disorder: Developmental and evolutionary perspectives. In D.Cicchetti & D. Cohen (Eds) Developmental Psychopathology: Risk, Disorder and Adaptation. (2nd edition) NY: Wiley.

Greaves N, Prince E, Evans DW, & Charman T. (2006). Repetitive and ritualistic behavior in children with Prader-Willi syndrome and children with autism. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities Research.

Evans DW, Canavera K, Klinepeter FL, Taga K, & Maccubbin E. (2005). The fears, phobias and anxieties of children with autism spectrum disorders and Down syndrome: Comparisons with developmentally and chronologically age matched children. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 36 3-26.

Evans DW, Lewis M, & Iobst E (2004). The role of the orbitofrontal cortex in normally developing compulsive behaviors and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Brain & Cognition, 55 220-234.

Evans DW, Milanak M, Medeiros B, & Ross J. (2002). Magical beliefs and rituals in young children. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 33, 43-58.

Evans DW (2002). Down syndrome. In N.J. Salkind (Ed.) Child Development: The Macmillan Psychology Reference Series, NY, NY.

Evans DW, Elliott JM, & Packard MG (2001). Visual organization and perceptual closure are related to compulsive-like behavior in typically developing children. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 47, 323-335.

Evans DW, Noam GG, & Brody L. (2001). Ego development and self-complexity in a sample of female psychiatric inpatients. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 71, 79-86.

Burack JA, Evans DW, Klaiman C, & Iarocci G (2001). The mysterious

myth of attention deficits in mental retardation and other defect stories: Contemporary issues in the developmental approach to mental retardation. International Review of Mental Retardation Research, 24, 299-320.

Evans DW (2000). Rituals and other syncretic tools: Insights from Werner’s comparative psychology, Journal of Adult Development, 7, 49-61.

Evans DW, & Seaman J (2000). Developmental aspects of psychological defenses: Their relation to self-complexity, self-perception and symptomatology in adolescents. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 30, 237-254.

Evans DW, Gray FL, & Leckman JF (1999). Rituals, fears and phobias in young children: Insights from development, psychopathology and neurobiology. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 29, 261-276.

Schultz RT, Evans DW, & Wolff M. (1999). Neuropsychological models of childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder. The Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 8, 513-531.

Hodapp RM, Evans DW, & Gray FL (1999). Intellectual development in children with Down syndrome. In J.A. Rondal, J. Perera, & L. Nadel (Eds), Down syndrome: A review of current knowledge, 124-132. London: Whurr Publishers.

Evans DW (1998). Development of the self in mental retardation: Organismic and contextual factors. In J.A. Burack, R.M. Hodapp & E. Zigler (Eds), Handbook of development and mental retardation, 462-480. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Evans DW, Leckman JF, Reznick JS, Carter A, Henshaw D, King R, & Pauls D. (1997). Ritual, habit and perfectionism: The prevalence and development of compulsive-like behavior in normal young children. Child Development, 68, 58-68.

[Reprinted in M. Hertzig & E. Farber (Eds.) (1998). Annual Progress in Child Psychiatry and Child Development: Selection of the year’s outstanding contributions to the understanding and treatment of the normal and disturbed child, Philadelphia: Bruner/Mazel.

Evans DW, King R, & Leckman JF (1996). Tic disorders. In E. Mash & R.Barkley (Eds), Childhood psychopathology. NY: Guilford Press.

Evans DW, Brody L, & Noam GG. (1995). Self-perceptions of adolescents with and without mood disorders: Content and structure. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 36, 1337-1351.

Evans DW, Hodapp RM, & Zigler E. (1995). Mental and chronological age as predictors of age-appropriate leisure time activities of mildly retarded children. Mental Retardation, 33, 120-127.

Evans DW (1994). Self-Complexity and its relation to development, symptomatology and self-perception during adolescence. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 24, 173-182.

Evans DW, Noam GG, Wertlieb D, Paget K, & Wolf M. (1994). Self-perceptions of adolescents with psychopathology: A clinical-developmental perspective. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 64, 293-300.

Gleason JB, Perlmann R, Ely R, & Evans, DW (1994). The babytalk register: Parents' uses of diminutives. In J. Sokolov and C. Snow (Eds.). Handbook of child language analysis with CHILDES. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Dykens E, Hodapp RM, & Evans DW (1994). Trajectories of adaptive behavior in individuals with Down syndrome. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 98, 580-587.

 Hodapp RM, Dykens EM, Evans DW, & Merighi J. (1992). Maternal emotional reactions to young children with different types of handicaps. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 13, 118-123.

Hodapp RM, Evans DW, & Ward B. (1989). Communicative interactions between teachers and children with severe handicaps. Mental Retardation, 27, 388-395.