cRCTs and Large Simple Trials | Speaker Dr. Michael Oakes

Michael Oakes, Ph.D.

Michael Oakes, PhD Senior Vice President for Research and Technology Management

A renowned social epidemiologist and research leader, Michael Oakes joined Case Western Reserve University on July 25, 2022, as the inaugural senior vice president for research and technology management. About this opportunity, Michael said, “It’s an opportunity to do something great. I want to be solving problems and breaking [disciplinary] boundaries. I want to come be a part of an outstanding team and together have an impact on Case Western Reserve and beyond.” Prior to this role, Michael served as the University of Minnesota’s interim vice president for research beginning in June 2021. In this role, he led a $1.1 billion research enterprise that included standard areas such as sponsored projects and regulatory compliance, alongside 11 interdisciplinary centers and institutes. From 2019 through 2021, Michael served as associate vice president for research at the University of Minnesota, a position primarily responsible for health sciences, During the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the university’s research funding jumped by 31%, an increase largely fueled by COVID-19-related grants. That same year, the university also set its new annual record for startups, having launched 20.

Michael is also the founding director of the Interdisciplinary Research Leaders Links to an external site. a national program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as part of its Culture of Health initiatives. The program brings scholars and community partners together on an applied research project; among its goals is to help scholars develop scientific, leadership, and team-building skills. A first-generation college student who first attended community college because of its lower tuition, Oakes won a scholarship to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he earned a bachelor’s degree in management economics and also studied organizational theory. He went on to earn his doctorate there as well, participating in an interdisciplinary program involving studies of sociology, microeconomics, and epidemiology.

Michael has since published more than 140 peer-reviewed articles, and he also co-authored a 2006 text on social epidemiology methods (with a fully revised second edition in 2017).