Nicholas Christakis

Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH

Sol Goldman Family Professor of Social and Natural Science; Co-Director, Yale Institute for Network Science
Yale Institute for Network Science17 Hillhouse AveRoom 223New Haven, CT 06520

Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, is a sociologist and physician who conducts research in the areas of social networks and biosocial science. He directs the Human Nature Lab.  

His current research is mainly focused on two topics: (1) the social, mathematical, and biological rules governing how social networks form (“connection”), and (2) the social and biological implications of how they operate to influence thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (“contagion”).  His lab uses both observational and experimental methods to study these phenomena, exploiting techniques from sociology, computer science, biosocial science, demography, statistics, behavior genetics, evolutionary biology, epidemiology, and other fields.

To the extent that diverse phenomena can spread within networks in intelligible ways, there are important policy implications since such spread can be exploited to improve the health or other desirable properties of groups (such as cooperation or innovation).  Hence, current work in the lab involves conducting field experiments: some work involves the use of large-scale, online network experiments; other work involves large-scale randomized controlled trials in the developing world where networks are painstakingly mapped. Finally, some work in the lab examines the biological determinants and consequences of social interactions and related phenomena, with a particular emphasis on the genetic origins and evolutionary implications of social networks. 

The author of several books and over 150 articles, Christakis was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2006 and was made a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2010.

Egocentric Social Network Structure, Health, and Pro-Social Behaviors in a National Panel Study of Americans.
Authors: O’Malley AJ, Arbesman S, Steiger DM, et al.
PLoS One
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Reasons for referral among primary care and specialist physicians.
Authors: Barnett ML, Keating NL, O’Malley AJ, et al.
Journal of General Internal Medicine
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Aspirin Use and Cardiovascular Events in Social Networks
Authors: K. Strully, J.H. Fowler, J. Murabito, et al.
Social Science and Medicine
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Spreading Paths in Partially Observed Social Networks
Authors: J.P. Onnela and N.A. Christakis
Physical Review
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Physician patient-sharing networks and the cost and intensity of care in US hospitals.
Authors: Barnett ML, Christakis NA, O’Malley AJ, et al.
Medical Care
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Social Networks and Cooperation in Hunter-Gatherers
Authors: C.L. Apicella, F.W. Marlowe, J.H. Fowler, et al.
Nature
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Dynamic Social Networks Promote Cooperation in Experiments with Humans
Authors: Rand D, Arbesman S and Christakis NA
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA
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Proximity to Food Establishments and Body Mass Index in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort over 30 Years
Authors: Block J, Christakis NA, O’Malley AJ, et al.
American Journal of Epidemiology
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Molecular Genetics and Economics
Authors: Beauchamp JP, Cesarini D, Johannesson M, et al.
Journal of Economic Perspectives
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Social Network Concordance in Food Choice Among Spouses, Friends, and Siblings
Authors: Pachucki M, Jacques PF and Christakis NA
American Journal of Public Health
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