J. Michael Oakes, PhD

My research has been highly collaborative, interdisciplinary, and focused on three main areas: applied methodology, social epidemiology, and research ethics. I am interested in research leadership, community-engaged research, and improving the public's health. I co-founded and direct the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Interdisciplinary Research Leaders program. As of June 2021, I spend 100 percent of my time serving as Interim Vice President for Research.

• Member, Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health
• Award for Excellence in Advising, School of Public Health, 2012
• Leonard Schuman Teaching Award, School of Public Health, 2010
• McKnight Presidential Fellow, University of Minnesota, 2007–2010

I'm currently working on several studies: 

• Establishing and leading the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s new Interdisciplinary Research Leaders (IRL) and working with the RWJF Change Leadership Programs.
• Working with Dr. Cari Clark (PI) to evaluate the impact of a domestic violence prevention program in Nepal. This is a community-randomized trial.
• Working with Dr. Lisa Harnack (PI) to evaluate the impact of incentive changes to a model SNAP (i.e., food stamps) program on food purchasing behavior. This is a randomized controlled experiment.
• Evaluating the magnitude of panel conditioning in an internet-based study to reduce HIV risk in men who have sex with men. This is a randomized controlled experiment embedded in a rather typical internet RCT to assess an intervention.
• Establishing an easy to use, publicly available, geo-spatial contextual data resource for multilevel health and social science research.

• 2016–2026, RWJF Change Leaders Programs, "Interdisciplinary Research Leaders," Principal Investigator
• 2016–2020, NIH, "HealthPop: A Geocoding, Spatial Workflow and Context," Principal Investigator
• 2015–2017, UK Dept for International Development, "Change Starts at Home: Preventing Violence Against Woman and Girls in Nepal," Co-Investigator
• 2013–2018, NIH/NICHD, "Experimental Incentives in the SNAP Program," Co-Investigator
• 2013–2017, NIH, "Designing a Food Benefit Program to Optimize Diet Quality for Obesity Prevention," Co-Investigator
• 2012–2017, NIH/NICHD, "Integrated Demographic and Health Series Study," Co-Investigator
• 2010–2017, NIH, "Men's INTernet Study III (MINTS-III) for HIV Prevention," Co-Investigator

See a full list of my publications on Google Scholar

Books

• Oakes, JM, Kaufman, J., "Methods in Social Epidemiology," 2nd Ed., 2017

Selected Publications

• Oakes JM, Naimi Al. "Mediation, Interaction, Interference for Social Epidemiology," International Journal of Epidemiology, 2016
• L Harnack, JM Oakes, B Elbel, T Beatty, S Rydell, S French. "Effects of Subsidies and Prohibitions on Nutrition in a Food Benefit Program: A Randomized Clinical Trial," JAMA Internal Medicine, 2016