Wayne W. Fisher, PhD
Director, Center for Autism Spectrum Disorder
H. B. Munroe Professor of Behavioral Research
985450 Nebraska Medical Center
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska 68198-5450
(402) 559-8863

Biography

Dr. Fisher has been director of the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Munroe-Meyer Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and its Department of Behavioral Genetics since October of 2005. Prior to this, Dr. Fisher was a professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. During his tenure as a Hopkins researcher, Dr. Fisher served as the Executive Director for the Neurobehavioral Programs at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland and more recently as the Executive Director of the Marcus Behavior Center in Atlanta, GA. He is a member of the American Psychological Association and the Association of Behavior Analysis. Dr. Fisher is the past Editor for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA). He is a recipient of the Bush Leadership Award and received the award for Distinguished Contribution to Applied Behavioral Research from the Behavior Analysis Division of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Fisher serves on the board for the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies and the Maryland Autism Project and is a former vice president of the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and a former president of the Maryland Association for Behavior Analysis. Dr. Fisher has co-authored over 115 research articles on severe behavior disorders among children with autism and developmental disabilities and related topics. He has a grant (R01) from the National Institute of Mental Health to study the functions of aberrant behavior displayed by children with autism.

Prior to joining the Hopkins research community, Dr. Fisher's early research involved epidemiological investigations that provided a basis for understanding the natural history, course, and risk factors relevant to the development of behavior disorders among persons with autism and developmental disabilities. For example, Dr. Fisher's research team conducted the first population-based epidemiological investigations in the United States on autism, childhood onset, pervasive developmental disorder, and hyperlexia. While at Hopkins, Dr. Fisher's research activities focused on three major areas of investigation: (a) Quantitative measurement to ascertain not only the influence of relatively static genetic and environmental variables on the prevalence and morphological characteristics of aberrant behavior, but also the more dynamic social and contextual variables that modulate the expression and severity of these disorders; (b) Development of new research methods for analyzing and categorizing aberrant behavior in terms of its function; and (c) Use of principles derived form basic behavior research on choice responding to improve behavioral assessments and interventions. Under Dr. Fisher's direction, the Neurobehavioral Programs at the Kennedy Krieger Institute grew from a 4-bed inpatient service to 16 inpatient beds, 10 day treatment slots, and outpatient services for approximately 200 of the most severe cases of self-injury, aggression, and property destruction in Maryland and from around the country. Annual revenues grew from about $788,000 to over $9.9 million during this time. Similarly, Dr. Fisher developed a school, and day treatment, outpatient, and early intervention programs at the Marcus Behavior Center in Atlanta, with annual revenues growing to over $5 million in about 5 years.

Dr. Fisher will direct the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders and develop and expand research at MMI in the areas of autism and behavioral genetics. His goal is to train and supervise teams of clinical researchers and therapists who will conduct behavioral and functional analyses to better delineate behavioral phenotypes and to develop more refined and specific behavioral interventions for a variety of disorders, including autism, self-injurious behavior, and attention deficit disorder. In addition to his currently funded R01 grant, Dr. Fisher has recently submitted a large multi-center R01 to compare indirect, direct, and controlled functional analysis methods, and he hopes to work collaboratively with other MMI researchers to develop a program project grant (P01) focused on the bio-behavioral assessment and treatment of autism stratified by genotype.

Recent Publications

Journal Articles

Fisher, W. W., & Kodak, T. (in press). Embedding an identity-matching task within a prompting hierarchy to facilitate acquisition of conditional discriminations in children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.

Kelley, M. E., Fisher, W. W., & Lomas, J. E. (2006). Some effects of stimulant medication on response allocation: A double-blind analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 39, 243-247.

Fisher, W. W., Adelinis, J. D., Volkert, V. M., Keeney, K. M., Neidert, P. L., & Hovanetz, A. (2005). Assessing preferences for positive and negative reinforcement during treatment of destructive behavior with functional communication training. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 26, 153-168.

Fisher, W. W., DeLeon, I. G., Rodriguez-Catter, V., & Keeney, K. (2004). Enhancing the effects of extinction on attention-maintained behavior through noncontingent delivery of attention or stimuli identified via a competing stimulus assessment. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 37, 171-184.

Ebanks, M. E., & Fisher, W. W. (2003). Altering the timing of academic prompts to treat destructive behavior maintained by escape. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 36, 355-359.

Fisher, W. W., Kelley , M. E., & Lomas, J. E. (2003). Visual aids and structured criteria for improving visual inspection and interpretation of single-case designs. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 36, 387-406

DeLeon, I. G., Fisher, W. W., & Marhefka, J. (2004). Decreasing self-injurious behavior associated with awakening in a child with autism and developmental delays. Behavioral Interventions, 19, 111-119.

Roane, H. S., Kelly, M. L., & Fisher, W. W. (2003). The effects of noncontingent access to food on the rate of object mouthing across three settings. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 36, 579-582.

Research Projects