Sean Prall

Sean Prall is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), specializing in health and reproductive decision-making. His research focuses on Namibian pastoralist communities, particularly through the Kunene Rural Health and Demography Project. He is the Principal Investigator (PI) of an NSF-SSRC funded study examining vaccination decision-making factors in Namibia. His work combines quantitative and qualitative methods including anthropometrics, demography, endocrinology, and ethnographic surveys. He also collaborates on cross-cultural projects like the ENDOW initiative and the Shodagor Longitudinal Health Project in Bangladesh. Prall serves on the board of the One Pencil Project, a health and education NGO in Namibia.

He holds a PhD from Indiana University (2014) and a BA from Boise State University (2008). His teaching portfolio includes courses on human evolution, evolutionary medicine, and the anthropology of deception at UCLA, and previously taught at the University of Missouri-Columbia. His research interests span medical mistrust, vaccine hesitancy, health disparities, and the intersection of ecology and human behavior.

Prall’s recent work emphasizes understanding how cultural, economic, and biological factors shape healthcare choices. His articles frequently address vaccination dynamics, epigenetic aging in African populations, and the role of social networks in health decision-making. He has secured grants from NSF and international organizations to support interdisciplinary field studies in Namibia and Bangladesh.