Gabriel Varela

Gabriel Varela

Hi! I am a medical sociologist and network analyst. I am currently a post-doctoral research fellow at the Irsay Institute, under the direction of Brea Perry. I received my PhD in May 2025. I was advised by James Moody (chair), Lynn Smith-Lovin, Craig Rawlings and Martin Ruef.

I study the concurrence of social connections and experiences of health, combining quantitative and qualitative methods. At the Irsay Institute, I study the association between social connections and cognitive decline through the SNAD study (PI: Brea Perry).

My dissertation explored how medical authority is collectively generated and can produce new forms of illness trajectories. I examined mental health self-diagnosis – identifying with a mental illness without a formal diagnosis – as a case study of this process.

I collaborate on a wide range of projects—including on adolescent health, political polarization and network methods—whose common thread is understanding the origins and impact of relationships. I also develop analytical tools that help new scholars enter the social networks field and make teaching networks more effective. Check out our social network analysis package IDEANet here! You can also check out resources from Duke’s annual Social Networks and Health workshop, including some of my recorded talks!

Research

2026

Tom Wolff, Gabriel Varela, and Jon Eastwood. 2026. "Balancing Accessibility and Familiarity with Technological Tools in the Introduction of Network Analysis to Undergraduates." Teaching Sociology.

George Wolford, Gabriel Varela, Robert Freeland, and Monica Harn. "Social Isolation or Autistic Homophily: An Exploration of the Social Networks of Autistic College Students." Autism: International Journal of Research and Practice.

2025

Gabriel Varela. 2025. "Undiagnosed: Relational characteristics of mental health pre-diagnostic self-labeling." Social Science & Medicine 369: 117725.

Aidan Combs, Gabriel Varela, Dawn T. Robinson, Lynn Smith-Lovin, and Stephen Vaisey. 2025. "Studying Systematic Deviations from Cultural Consensus about Occupations: The Duality of Occupation Meanings and Americans’ Meaning Communities." Social Networks.

Dana K. Pasquale, Thomas Wolff, Gabriel Varela, Jimi Adams, Peter J. Mucha, Brea L. Perry, Thomas W. Valente, and James Moody. 2025. "Considerations for Social Networks and Health Data Sharing: An Overview." Annals of Epidemiology 102: 28–35.

2024

Andrea Knittel, Gabriel Varela, Ella G. Ferguson, Hannah Hulshul, Jamie B. Jackson, James Moody, and Adaora A. Adimora. 2024. "Network determinants of relationship influence on HIV prevention decision-making among people in the social networks of women who have experienced incarceration in the US." PLoS ONE 19(10): e0312584.

2023

Molly Copeland, Christina Kamis, and Gabriel Varela. 2023. "Pathways from peers to mental health: Adolescent networks, role attainment, and adult depressive symptoms." Social Science & Medicine 324: 115859.

Aidan Combs, Graham Tierney, Fatima Alqabandi, Devin Cornell, Gabriel Varela, Andrés Castro Araújo, Lisa P. Argyle, Christopher A. Bail, and Alexander Volfovsky. 2023. "Perceived gender and political persuasion: a social media field experiment during the 2020 US Democratic presidential primary election." Scientific Reports 13(1): 14051.

2022

Gabriel Varela, Kendal Swanson, Dana K. Pasquale, Manoj Mohanan, and James W. Moody. 2022. "Visualizing COVID Restrictions: Activity Patterns Before, During, and After COVID-19 Lockdowns in Uttar Pradesh, India." Socius 8: 23780231221117962.

Under Review

Gabriel Varela. "Brokered Psychiatry: Core Networks and Psychiatric Self-Diagnosis." (Revise & Resubmit)

In Progress

Gabriel Varela and Brea Perry. "Stable but not Static: Re-organization of Enduring Ties in Older Adults' Personal Networks." (Presented at ASA 2026 & Duke SNH 2026)

Joseph Roso, Gabriel Varela, and Joseph Quinn. "Convictions and Connections." (Presented by co-author at ASA 2026 & ASA 2025)

Gabriel Varela, David Eagle, Oliver Hess, and David King. "Malcontented ministers: Political mismatch and occupational distress among United Methodist Clergy."

Tom Wolff, Jonathan H. Morgan, Gabriel Varela, Dana Pasquale, James W. Moody, and Peter Mucha. "IDEANet: Integrating Data Exchange and Analysis for Networks." (Presented at Sunbelt 2023)

Gabriel Varela and Rebecca Robbins. "Sleep Chronotype and Duration Clustering among College Students."

Teaching and Mentorship

Teaching Assistant - "Networks and Management"
Duke University - Spring 2024 | Spring 2025

Finalist - Bass Connections Mentorship Award
Duke University - April 2024

Teaching Assistant - "Politics & Polarization"
Duke University - 2022 – 2023

Mentor - Mentor Matching Engine
ISTI - 2020 – 2021

Teaching Assistant - "Mapping Controversies"
Sciences-Po Paris - 2015 – 2016

Talks

Organized

Social Networks and Health Duke Network Analysis Center - Spring 2024

Social Networks and Health Duke Network Analysis Center - Spring 2023

Social Networks and Health Duke Network Analysis Center - Spring 2022

Computational Social-Science Speaker Series Duke Professional Development Grant - 2021

Presented

Beyond membership turnover: Salience change in the observed network ASA - Summer 2026

Beyond membership turnover: Salience change in the observed network Duke Network Analysis Center - Spring 2026

Gathering and analyzing social networks in 2025: Network Canvas and IDEANet WIM - Fall 2025

The Social Structure of a Schism Sunbelt - Summer 2025

Brokered Psychiatry: Core networks and Psychiatric Self-Diagnosis ASA - Summer 2024

Brokered Psychiatry: Core networks and Psychiatric Self-Diagnosis Sunbelt - Summer 2024

VaryCSS: Workshop on Diversity in Computational Social Science Cornell University - Spring 2024

Brokered Psychiatry: Core networks and Psychiatric Self-Diagnosis Southern Sociological Society - Spring 2024

Undiagnosed: Relational Characteristics of Disability Identification ASA - Summer 2023

IDEANet: Integrating Data Exchange and Analysis for Networks Sunbelt - Summer 2023

IDEANet: Integrating Data Exchange and Analysis for Networks Northwestern University - Summer 2023

Undiagnosed: Relational Characteristics of Disability Identification Southern Sociological Society - Spring 2023

VaryCSS: Introduction Howard University - Summer 2022

Collective Speech Among Addiction Treatment Organizations Duke University - Spring 2021

Collective Speech Among Addiction Treatment Organizations UC-Berkeley - Fall 2021

Grants and Fellowships

Aleane Webb Dissertation Research Fellowship - Spring 2024

Department of Sociology Research Grant - Spring 2024

Max Planck IMPRS-PHDS Fellow - 2023 – 2025

Professional Development Grant - 2021 – 2022

Summer Research Fellowship for First and Second Year Ph.D. Students - 2020 – 2021