Elisa J. Sobo

Elisa (EJ) Sobo, Professor of Anthropology and CAL Director of Undergraduate Research at San Diego State University, is a sociocultural anthropologist. Past President of the Society for Medical Anthropology and a longstanding member of the editorial boards of Anthropology and Medicine, Medical Anthropology, and Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Dr. Sobo has published thirteen books (e.g., Culture and Meaning in Health Services Research) and numerous peer-reviewed articles. Her work has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, and in the New York Times, Washington Post, and other news outlets; and she has written commentaries for HuffPost, Sapiens, San Diego’s Union Tribune, and other public-facing media. Dr. Sobo’s areas of expertise include childhood and child health, biomedical and other medical/health cultures, organizational issues in healthcare, patient-provider communication, disparities and cultural competence in health care, health-related stigma and identity, risk perception, and qualitative methods (including both ethnographic and rapid assessment methods). Recent projects concern: parents’ use of cannabis-based therapies for children with intractable epilepsy seizures; how ethnomedical understandings about healthy child development affect educational strategies and standards; and pediatric vaccination. Dr. Sobo is currently part of CommuniVax, a national coalition aiming to help ensure an equitable vaccine rollout.