David Eagle, PhD, is a sociologist who studies the social and structural determinants of mental and physical health. His content expertise is in society and religion, including the changing role of religion in North American society and the role of race in religious structures. His methods expertise is in the collection and analysis of survey data, including longitudinal and social network data. More recently, his methodological work has branched out into the collection of physiological data, including high-frequency heart rate variability. Dr. Eagle brings his methods expertise to projects such as understanding the health of sexual and gender minorities in low- and middle-income countries.

Currently, Dr. Eagle is multiple PI of the Seminary to Early Ministry Study, a longitudinal cohort study of seminary students that aims to understand the factors that lead to positive and negative health and occupational outcomes in this group, and which may inform other occupational groups and graduate and professional training more generally. Other current projects with clergy include: evaluating the effectiveness of several stress-symptom reduction programs among clergy, and studying the long-term health of United Methodist Clergy in North Carolina.

In addition, Dr. Eagle conducts research to improve the health of caregivers in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Currently, he is working on a project to understand the experiences of Ebola workers, and to explore how clergy think about the spiritual and medical origins of mental illness.

Dr. Eagle holds a PhD in sociology from Duke University, a Master of Theology from Duke Divinity School, a Master of Divinity from Fresno Pacific University, and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta.