A team at Harvard led by Nicholas Christakis, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H, built several health-related social network data sets and used them to analyze the role social networks play in health and health care. Some findings achieved national media coverage.

Egocentric Social Network Structure, Health, and Pro-Social Behaviors in a National Panel Study of Americans

May 1, 2012 | Journal Article

Using an online survey, researchers examined social networks of people, including the change in the number of close social contacts, tie strength or closeness; and the number of interconnections between contacts, how they are related to each other, ...

Gaming for Weight Loss

October 30, 2012 | Pioneering Ideas Blog Post

The Children’s Digital Media Center at Georgetown University received a grant from Health Games Research to investigate the game design principles that might make exergames effective physical activity and weight loss tools.

Social Network Sensors for Early Detection of Contagious Outbreaks

September 15, 2010 | Journal Article

To evaluate whether such a friend group could indeed provide early detection, the authors studied a flu outbreak at Harvard College in late 2009.

Final Agenda Featuring Keynote Speakers Michael Graves and Stephen Wolfram Announced for the First-ever WIRED Health Conference: Living by Numbers presented in Partnership with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

October 3, 2012 | News Release

The agenda for the first-ever WIRED Health Conference: Living by Numbers was announced today by partners WIRED and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Behavior Change