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
Recent Publications
Social influence on women's contraceptive use: Population-based, sociocentric network study in rural Uganda.
Journal Article Social science & medicine (1982) · March 2026 Myriad barriers impede women's access to contraception in Uganda and affect their reproductive autonomy. Almost half of married women of reproductive age in Uganda want to avoid pregnancy and one-third are undecided, yet only 38% use modern contraception. ... Full text CiteThe Role of Health Networks in Disseminating Knowledge about Infant HIV Testing in Rural Uganda: Population-Based Sociocentric Network Study.
Journal Article AIDS and behavior · February 2026 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 CiteSociodemographic characteristics predict land use patterns by farmers near a protected area in Madagascar.
Journal Article Scientific reports · February 2026 Globally, most farms are smaller than 10 hectares. Land use by these smallholder farmers in agricultural frontiers is crucial to conservation, food security, and exposure to infectious diseases. However, solely survey-based land use studies miss the fine s ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
Dynamics of Ghanaian immigrants' health in the US: Critical life-stage experiences, social networks, acculturation and selection (GMHeS)
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029US-Israel Collab: Market Integration, Land Use, and Pathogen Transmission in Rural Madagascar
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2023 - 2028Risk factor analysis and dynamic response for epidemics in heterogeneous populations
ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2024 - 2027View All Grants
Education
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill ·
1999
Ph.D.
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill ·
1997
M.A.
University of Oregon ·
1992
B.S.