Nicholas Christakis, MD, MPH, PhD
Sterling Professor of Social and Natural ScienceCards
About
Research
Publications
2025
Network-cycle motif participation is associated with individual and collective wealth in Honduran villages
Shridhar S, Lee S, Charette Y, Iosifidis G, Christakis N. Network-cycle motif participation is associated with individual and collective wealth in Honduran villages. Scientific Reports 2025, 15: 27680. PMID: 40731117, PMCID: PMC12307972, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-11087-7.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCognitive representations of social networks in isolated villages
Feltham E, Forastiere L, Christakis N. Cognitive representations of social networks in isolated villages. Nature Human Behaviour 2025, 9: 1737-1753. PMID: 40523958, PMCID: PMC12323711, DOI: 10.1038/s41562-025-02221-6.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchRealism Drives Interpersonal Reciprocity but Yields to AI-Assisted Egocentrism in a Coordination Experiment
Shirado H, Shimizu K, Christakis N, Kasahara S. Realism Drives Interpersonal Reciprocity but Yields to AI-Assisted Egocentrism in a Coordination Experiment. 2025, 1-21. DOI: 10.1145/3706598.3713371.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchDesign of HCI systemsArtificial intelligenceImproving user performanceVirtual reality technologyHCI systemUser performanceRobot carSocial applicationsEnhance realismEffects of realismVirtual carReality technologyInterpersonal coordinationHuman behaviorPhysical spaceDigital spaceTechnologyIntelligenceCarRealismCommunicationAssistanceGameSpaceCoordination
2024
Antidepressant use in spatial social networks
Lengyel B, Tóth G, Christakis N, Bíró A. Antidepressant use in spatial social networks. Science Advances 2024, 10: eadr0302. PMID: 39642229, PMCID: PMC11623294, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adr0302.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsAntidepressant useSpatial social networksSocial networksAssociated with depression treatmentSmall-town residentsCohesiveness of social networksDiversity of social networksCohesive social networksMental health careDepression treatmentMental Well-BeingLocal communitiesMental healthEmpirical workWell-beingDistant communitiesDiverse networksHealth careLocal accessDistant placesCommunityIndividualsAntidepressantsYoung individualsTiesBringing leaders of network subgroups closer together does not facilitate consensus
Jones M, Christakis N. Bringing leaders of network subgroups closer together does not facilitate consensus. Scientific Reports 2024, 14: 30183. PMID: 39632953, PMCID: PMC11618600, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-81636-z.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchGut microbiome strain-sharing within isolated village social networks
Beghini F, Pullman J, Alexander M, Shridhar S, Prinster D, Singh A, Matute Juárez R, Airoldi E, Brito I, Christakis N. Gut microbiome strain-sharing within isolated village social networks. Nature 2024, 637: 167-175. PMID: 39567691, PMCID: PMC11666459, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08222-1.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchVillage social networksClusters of speciesMicrobiome sequencing dataGut microbiome compositionStrain-level dataMicrobiome biologySequence dataSpecies-levelSocial networksMicrobial sharingPhenotypic impactMicrobiome compositionMicrobiomeSocial network mapsCo-villagersSocial nicheExtended social environmentPeripheral peopleGutSocial connectionsSocial environmentFace-to-face social networksClusters of peopleRelationship typesVillageEnvironmental, socioeconomic, and health factors associated with gut microbiome species and strains in isolated Honduras villages
Shridhar S, Beghini F, Alexander M, Singh A, Juárez R, Brito I, Christakis N. Environmental, socioeconomic, and health factors associated with gut microbiome species and strains in isolated Honduras villages. Cell Reports 2024, 43: 114442. PMID: 38968070, PMCID: PMC11290354, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114442.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchGut microbiomeGut microbiome speciesSpecies-level profilingSequenced microbiomesMetagenomic dataMicrobiome speciesHost phenotypeBacterial speciesHuman phenotypesMesoamerican highlandsSeveral speciesGutSpeciesMicrobiomePhenotypeAssociated with body mass indexCommunity-based cohortBody mass indexConsistent with previous findingsSocioeconomic factorsIsolated villagesHousehold wealthMass indexHostStrainSimple autonomous agents can enhance creative semantic discovery by human groups
Ueshima A, Jones M, Christakis N. Simple autonomous agents can enhance creative semantic discovery by human groups. Nature Communications 2024, 15: 5212. PMID: 38890368, PMCID: PMC11189566, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49528-y.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchThe structure and function of antagonistic ties in village social networks
Ghasemian A, Christakis N. The structure and function of antagonistic ties in village social networks. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 2024, 121: e2401257121. PMID: 38889155, PMCID: PMC11214085, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2401257121.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsNegative tiesVillage social networksSocial networksFunction of social networksVillage networkAntagonistic tiesSmall-world effectSurvey wavesRural villagesTiesAntagonistic relationshipHuman social networksHuman groupsVillagePositive worldPositive connectionEmpirical dataHighest betweenness centralityNetwork bridgeDissemination of informationNetworkBetweenness centralityShorter average distanceNodesWorldMaternal and child health intervention to promote behaviour change: a population-level cluster-randomised controlled trial in Honduras
Oles W, Alexander M, Negron R, Nelson J, Iriarte E, Airoldi E, Christakis N, Forastiere L. Maternal and child health intervention to promote behaviour change: a population-level cluster-randomised controlled trial in Honduras. BMJ Open 2024, 14: e060784. PMID: 38858139, PMCID: PMC11168147, DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-060784.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsCluster randomised controlled trialPrimary outcomeCounseling interventionChild health interventionsCommunity health workersProfessional care seekingBreast-feedingPromote behavior changeSecondary outcome measuresFacility birthsUmbilical cord careCare-seekingNewborn healthNewborn careHealth workersHealth facilitiesEndline surveyHealth interventionsEducational interventionChild healthCord careHome settingCaring behaviorsSecondary outcomesSustained educational interventions