Elisa Sobo

Elisa Sobo is Professor and Director of Undergraduate Research in the College of Arts and Letters at San Diego State University. A sociocultural anthropologist, she researches health cultures, therapeutic sound baths, vaccination attitudes, and generative AI in education. She previously held positions at Case Western Reserve and the University of Arizona.

Her ethnographic projects examine citizen science in pediatric cannabis therapies, Waldorf education's health impacts, and COVID-19 vaccine equity. She co-leads NIH-funded studies on vaccine communication and serves on editorial boards for Medical Anthropology and American Anthropologist.

Recent publications analyze wellness paradoxes in sound healing and AI's role in redefining pedagogy. Dr. Sobo has been featured in NPR, New York Times, and The Conversation for her work on medical mistrust.