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James Moody

Professor in the Department of Sociology
Sociology
Box 90088, Durham, NC 27708-0088
268 Soc/Psych Bldg., Durham, NC 27708

Overview


James Moody is the Robert O. Keohane professor of sociology at Duke University. He has published extensively in the field of social networks, methods, and social theory. His work has focused theoretically on the network foundations of social cohesion and diffusion, with a particular emphasis on building tools and methods for understanding dynamic social networks. He has used network models to help understand school racial segregation, adolescent health, disease spread, economic development, and the development of scientific disciplines. Moody's work is funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and has appeared in top social science, health and medical journals. He is winner of INSNA's (International Network for Social Network Analysis) Freeman Award for scholarly contributions to network analysis, founding director of the Duke Network Analysis Center and editor of the on-line Journal of Social Structure.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Professor in the Department of Sociology · 2010 - Present Sociology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Faculty Director of the Duke Network Analysis Center (DNAC) · 2020 - Present Duke Network Analysis Center, Social Science Research Institute
Faculty Research Scholar of DuPRI's Population Research Center · 2010 - Present Duke Population Research Center, Duke Population Research Institute
Bass Fellow · 2016 - Present Sociology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

In the News


Published August 25, 2022
Duke Team Awarded $1 Million to Predict the Next Pandemic
Published February 12, 2018
Big Questions, Far Connections: Visualizing Research Ties Across Campus
Published March 14, 2017
Webs of Minds and Ideas Bind Dukes Campus

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Recent Publications


Family Ties and Health: Exploring the Link Between Parents' Social Networks and Child Obesity.

Journal Article Child Obes · October 2025 Background: African American (AA) and Hispanic children are at high risk of developing obesity. Social networks are powerful drivers of health behaviors and outcomes. Parent social network characteristics may influence child health behaviors and obesity ri ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Role of Health Networks in Disseminating Knowledge about Infant HIV Testing in Rural Uganda: Population-Based Sociocentric Network Study.

Journal Article AIDS and behavior · October 2025 Early testing of infants exposed to HIV can significantly decrease mortality for those linked to HIV treatment. Infants exposed to HIV should first be tested at 6 weeks of age, but only 60% are tested as recommended. Little research has focused on the role ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


US-Israel Collab: Market Integration, Land Use, and Pathogen Transmission in Rural Madagascar

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2023 - 2028

Effectively Linking Molecular Informatics and Network Analytics to Reduce Malaria (ELIMINAR-Malaria)

ResearchCo-Mentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2028

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Education, Training & Certifications


University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · 1999 Ph.D.
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · 1997 M.A.
University of Oregon · 1992 B.S.