Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Center for Computational & Social Sciences in Health (COMPASS)

Research to Improve Health

Cutting-edge research on the social and structural drivers of health.

To understand the drivers of population health, the systems around populations must be understood — as it is not individuals themselves, but the social and structural systems they encounter in their everyday lives that shape their health.

This is a paradigm shift from a single pathway toward how the entire system fits together to produce health inequities for a particular population. As such, this shift requires complex modeling and computational approaches, new tools and methods for the capture, integration and analysis of rich social data necessary to understand systemic influences on individual health.

Our Projects

Through numerous studies, our team has been at the forefront of understanding of the social and structural drivers of population health via measurement tools, modeling and analysis, and the transdisciplinary integration of scientists and community members.

SILOS

Structural Inequities across Layers Of Social-Context as Drivers of HIV and Substance Use

Read the SILOS grant press release and learn more on the Impact Institute site.

(R01DA061247)

ChiSTIG

Simulation Modeling to Understand and Address HIV Disparities in Racial, Ethnic, and Sexual Minority Populations

(R01MD014703)

Caregiver

Measuring Caregiver Networks of Older Adults with Alzheimer's Disease (Caregiver site)

(R01AG083034)

Network Canvas

Network Canvas provides free and open-source software for surveying social networks, designed for both researchers and participants.

Learn More about Network Canvas here.

(R01DA042711;ODSS Supplement to R34DA052216; and R01DA057973)

PUG2

 Leveraging Data Synthesis to Identify Optimal and Robust Strategies for HIV Elimination Among Substance-using MSM

(R01DA055502)

MCDC

Metropolitan Chicago Data-Science Corps (MCDC site)

(NSF Award Abstract # 2123447)

Recent Publications

  1. McConnell EA, Birkett M  "We Live in Different Chicagos": Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Neighborhood Affiliations of Young Men Who Have Sex with Men as Drivers of HIV Risk.  AIDS Behav  2025 Sep;29(9):2764-2782. doi:10.1007/s10461-025-04734-7
  2. McConnell EA, Aleksyuk Y, Birkett M  Structural factors shape racial differences in neighbourhood-level HIV risk environments for young men who have sex with men.  Cult Health Sex  2025 Aug 27;:1-13. doi:10.1080/13691058.2025.2544776
  3. Min SH, Scroggins JK, Duncan DT, Garofalo R, Janulis PF, Kuhns L, Xiao F, Schnall R  Identifying Hidden Barriers to PrEP Adherence Among Young Men Who Have Sex with Men: Application of Natural Language Processing.  AIDS Behav  2025 Aug 19;. doi:10.1007/s10461-025-04863-z
  4. Mustanski B, Benbow N, Macapagal K, Li D, Madkins K, Saber R, Linas B, Smith JD, Brown CH, Munroe S  et al.  Comparing Implementation and Effectiveness Outcomes for Two Implementation Strategies of the Keep It Up! Digital HIV Prevention Program: A Type 3 Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Trial.  AIDS Behav  2025 Aug 19;. doi:10.1007/s10461-025-04838-0
  5. Scott J, Money V, Ellis C, Hughes-Halbert C, Birkett MA, Magwood G  Characterizing the influence of racism-related stress and pandemic-related changes in social connections on cardiovascular health: Study protocol and theoretical framework.  PLoS One  2025;20(7):e0324839. pii:e0324839
  6. Schnall R, Radix A, Kuhns LM, Janulis P, Paredes C, Garofalo R  Feasibility of the Adapted MyPEEPS Mobile App for HIV Prevention in Young Transgender Men.  AIDS Educ Prev  2025 Jul;37(3):173-186. doi:10.1521/aeap.2025.37.3.173
  7. Janulis P, Phillips Ii G, Cascalheira C, Mustanski B, Wolff T, Birkett M  Estimating Substance Use Homophily in the Sexual Network of a Large Cohort of Young Sexual and Gender Minorities Assigned Male at Birth.  AIDS Behav  2025 Mar;29(3):933-938. doi:10.1007/s10461-024-04576-9
  8. Balogun M, Kuhns LM, Akanmu AS, Garofalo R, Badru T, Adekanmbi AF, Akinbami A, Agbaji O, David AN, Omigbodun O  et al.  Risk Factors for Viral Non-suppression Among Youth Living with HIV in Nigeria: Findings from the iCARE Nigeria Study.  AIDS Behav  2025 Mar;29(3):848-857. doi:10.1007/s10461-024-04565-y
  9. Schnall R, Scherr TF, Kuhns LM, Janulis P, Jia H, Wood OR, Almodovar M, Garofalo R  Efficacy of the mLab App: a randomized clinical trial for increasing HIV testing uptake using mobile technology.  J Am Med Inform Assoc  2025 Feb 01;32(2):275-284. doi:10.1093/jamia/ocae261
  10. Taiwo BO, Kuhns LM, Agbaji O, David A, Akanmu S, Akinbami A, Omigbodun O, Adekanmbi F, Yiltok E, Ezemelue P  et al.  A Stepped-Wedge, Cluster-Randomized, Multisite Study of Text Messaging Plus Peer Navigation to Improve Adherence and Viral Suppression Among Youth on Antiretroviral Therapy.  J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr  2025 Feb 01;98(2):176-184. doi:10.1097/QAI.0000000000003549
  11. Kozhumam A, Singh R, Agbaji O, Adetunji A, Taiwo B, Omigbodun O, Kuti K, David A, Akanmu S, Adekambi F  et al.  Attitudes toward scale-up of an Intensive Combination Approach to Rollback the Epidemic in Nigerian adolescents (iCARE) intervention for youth in Nigeria: results of a mixed methods early-implementation study.  Implement Sci Commun  2025 Jan 08;6(1):6. pii:6
  12. Schnall R, Duncan DT, Kuhns LM, Janulis PF, Almodovar M, Wood OR, Xiao F, Veihman PR, Garofalo R  Three limited interaction approaches to understanding the epidemiology of HIV among YMSM in the US.  BMC Public Health  2024 Dec 18;24(1):3450. pii:3450
  13. Davoudpour S, Ruprecht MM, Xu J, Felt D, Boegner J, Lindeman P, Janulis P, Greene GJ, Johnson AK, Kern D  et al.  Networks of HIV Service Organisations: Changes Over Time and Implications for HIV Elimination.  J Health Manag  2024 Nov;26(5):752-762. doi:10.1177/09720634241262160
  14. Risher K, Janulis P, McConnell E, Motley D, Serrano PA, Jackson JD, Brown A, Williams M, Mendez D, Phillips Ii G  et al.  Racial and Ethnic Differences in Mobile App Use for Meeting Sexual Partners Among Young Men Who Have Sex With Men and Young Transgender Women: Cross-Sectional Study.  JMIR Public Health Surveill  2024 Sep 11;10:e54215. pii:e54215
  15. Ye J, Orji IA, Birkett MA, Hirschhorn LR, Walunas TL, Smith JD, Kandula NR, Shedul GL, Huffman MD, Ojji DB  Community-Based Participatory Research and System Dynamics Modeling for Improving Retention in Hypertension Care.  JAMA Netw Open  2024 Aug 01;7(8):e2430213. pii:e2430213
  16. Cordoba E, Garofalo R, Kuhns LM, Pearson C, Scott Batey D, Janulis P, Jia H, Bruce J, Hidalgo MA, Hirshfield S  et al.  Neighborhood-level characteristics as effect modifiers on the efficacy of the MyPEEPS mobile intervention in same-sex attracted adolescent men.  Prev Med Rep  2024 Jun;42:102726. pii:102726
  17. Ye J, Sanuade OA, Hirschhorn LR, Walunas TL, Smith JD, Birkett MA, Baldridge AS, Ojji DB, Huffman MD  Interventions and contextual factors to improve retention in care for patients with hypertension in primary care: Hermeneutic systematic review.  Prev Med  2024 Mar;180:107880. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2024.107880
  18. Tang X, Schalet BD, Janulis P, Keruly JC, Moore RD, Milloy MJ, DeBeck K, Hayashi K, Javanbakht M, Kim S  et al.  Evaluating the agreement between different substance use recall periods in multiple HIV cohorts.  Drug Alcohol Depend  2024 Jan 01;254:111043. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.111043
  19. Phillips Ii G, Rodriguez-Ortiz AE, Adewumi OM, Banner K, Adetunji A, Awolude OA, Olayinka OA, Simons LM, Hultquist JF, Ozer EA  et al.  Social/Sexual Networks of People Newly Diagnosed with HIV in Ibadan, Nigeria.  AIDS Behav  2024 Jan;28(1):300-309. doi:10.1007/s10461-023-04200-2
  20. Cascalheira CJ, Pugh TH, Hong C, Birkett M, Macapagal K, Holloway IW  Developing technology-based interventions for infectious diseases: ethical considerations for young sexual and gender minority people.  Front Reprod Health  2023;5:1303218. pii:1303218
  21. Janulis P, Jenness SM, Risher K, Phillips G, Mustanski B, Birkett M  Substance use and variation in sexual partnership rates among young MSM and young transgender women: Disaggregating between and within-person associations.  Drug Alcohol Depend  2023 Nov 01;252:110968. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.110968
  22. Janulis P, Luo J, Tang X, Schalet BD  Can severity of substance use be measured across drug classes? Estimating differential item functioning by drug class in two general measures of substance use severity.  Drug Alcohol Depend  2023 Sep 01;250:110877. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.110877
  23. Masters MC, Rivera J, Calamari M, Wright K, Janulis P, Rusie L, Bannon J, Milne P, Galvin SR, Molina EG  et al.  Telemedicine and HIV Care Quality Measures During the COVID-19 Pandemic.  J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr  2023 Sep 01;94(1):46-52. doi:10.1097/QAI.0000000000003238
  24. Janulis P, Goodreau SM, Morris M, Birkett M, Phillips G, Risher K, Mustanski B, Jenness SM  Partnership types and coital frequency as predictors of gonorrhea and chlamydia among young MSM and young transgender women.  Int J STD AIDS  2023 Sep;34(10):694-701. doi:10.1177/09564624231173728
  25. Janulis P, Phillips G, Melville J, Hogan B, Banner K, Mustanski B, Oser CB, Tillson M, Schneider J, Birkett M  Network canvas: an open-source tool for capturing social and contact network data.  Int J Epidemiol  2023 Aug 02;52(4):1286-1291. doi:10.1093/ije/dyad036
  26. Taiwo BO, Kuhns LM, Omigbodun O, Awolude O, Kuti KM, Adetunji A, Berzins B, Janulis P, Akanmu S, Agbaji O  et al.  A randomized stepped wedge trial of an intensive combination approach to roll back the HIV epidemic in Nigerian adolescents: iCARE Nigeria treatment support protocol.  PLoS One  2023;18(7):e0274031. pii:e0274031
  27. Janulis P  Life course differences in heavy episodic drinking behaviors across age, gender, and sexual identity in the United States.  Addict Behav Rep  2023 Jun;17:100495. pii:100495
  28. Mustanski B, Saber R, Jones JP, Macapagal K, Benbow N, Li DH, Brown CH, Janulis P, Smith JD, Marsh E  et al.  Keep It Up! 3.0: Study protocol for a type III hybrid implementation-effectiveness cluster-randomized trial.  Contemp Clin Trials  2023 Apr;127:107134. doi:10.1016/j.cct.2023.107134
  29. Kling KD, Janulis P, Demonbreun AR, Sancilio A, Berzins B, Krueger K, Achenbach C, Price R, Sullivan M, Caputo M  et al.  No difference in anti-spike antibody and surrogate viral neutralization following SARS-CoV-2 booster vaccination in persons with HIV compared to controls (CO-HIV Study).  Front Immunol  2022;13:1048776. pii:1048776