Sarah Dufek, Ph.D.
Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor
To see if Sarah Dufek is accepting new patients, or for assistance finding a UC Davis doctor, please call 800-2-UCDAVIS (800-282-3284).
Locations and Contact
Additional Numbers
Clinic Phone
Clinic Phone
Clinic Fax
Physician Referrals
Philosophy of Care
Dr. Dufek's philosophy of care is to work together with families to develop a rich collaborative partnership in order to act as a consistent presence for an ongoing relationship that works across all life transitions.
Clinical Interests
Dr. Dufek is a psychologist and behavior analyst specializing in diagnostic assessment and intervention for individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities. She has special expertise in parent coaching and naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBIs).
Research/Academic Interests
Dr. Dufek's research focuses on the development and community implementation of high quality evidence-based assessment and intervention practices for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities with a special emphasis on services designed for families who traditionally have not had access to feasible and acceptable options.
Division
Clinical Psychologist
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Undergraduate School
B.S., Psychology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara CA 2001
Other School
M.A., Psychology, UC San Diego, San Diego CA 2006
Other School
Ph.D., Psychology, UC San Diego, La Jolla CA 2013
Fellowship
Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York NY 2013-2015
Wieckowski AT, de Marchena A, Algur Y, Nichols L, Fernandes S, Thomas RP, McClure LA, Dufek S, Fein D, Adamson LB, Stahmer A, Robins DL. The first five minutes: Initial impressions during autism spectrum disorder diagnostic evaluations in young children. Autism Res. 2021 Sep;14(9):1923-1934. doi:10.1002/aur.2536. Epub 2021 May 22. PMID:34021728.
Vibert BA, Dufek S, Klein CB, Choi YB, Winter J, Lord C, Kim SH. Quantifying Caregiver Change Across Early Autism Interventions Using the Measure of NDBI Strategy Implementation: Caregiver Change (MONSI-CC). J Autism Dev Disord. 2020 Apr;50(4):1364-1379. doi:10.1007/s10803-019-04342-0. PMID:31925669.
Talbott MR, Dufek S, Zwaigenbaum L, Bryson S, Brian J, Smith IM, Rogers SJ. Brief Report: Preliminary Feasibility of the TEDI: A Novel Parent-Administered Telehealth Assessment for Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms in the First Year of Life. J Autism Dev Disord. 2020 Sep;50(9):3432-3439. doi:10.1007/s10803-019-04314-4. PMID:31776881.
Alexander L, Escalera J, Ai L, et al. An open resource for transdiagnostic research in pediatric mental health and learning disorders. Sci Data. 2016;4:1-26. doi:10.1038/sdata.2017.181.
Drahota A, Meza RD, Brikho B, Naaf M, Estabillo JA, Gomez ED, Vejnoska SF, Dufek S, Stahmer AC, Aarons GA. Community-Academic Partnerships: A Systematic Review of the State of the Literature and Recommendations for Future Research. Milbank Q. 2016 Mar;94(1):163-214. doi:10.1111/1468-0009.12184. PMID:26994713.
Grzadzinski R, Carr T, Colombi C, McGuire K, Dufek S, Pickles A, Lord C. Measuring Changes in Social Communication Behaviors: Preliminary Development of the Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC). J Autism Dev Disord. 2016 Jul;46(7):2464-79. doi:10.1007/s10803-016-2782-9. PMID:27062034.
Bacon EC, Dufek S, Schreibman L, Stahmer AC, Pierce K, Courchesne E. Measuring outcome in an early intervention program for toddlers with autism spectrum disorder: use of a curriculum-based assessment. Autism Res Treat. 2014;2014:964704. doi:10.1155/2014/964704. Epub 2014 Mar 10. PMID:24711926.
Schreibman L, Stahmer AC, Barlett VC, Dufek S. Brief Report: Toward Refinement of a Predictive Behavioral Profile for Treatment Outcome in Children with Autism. Res Autism Spectr Disord. 2009 Jan;3(1):163-172. doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2008.04.008. PMID:20046210.