Sera Young

Anthropologist Sera Young focuses on reducing maternal and child undernutrition in areas with low-resource settings, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Methodologically, she draws on her training in medical anthropology, international nutrition, and HIV infection to take a biocultural approach to understanding how mothers cope to preserve their health and that of their families.

For her efforts, she has received a number of awards and honors, including the Margaret Mead Award for her book, Craving Earth.

Young’s work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Wenner Gren Foundation. Her research has been covered by The New York Times, BBC, NPR, National Geographic, and Scientific American.

Young was previously an assistant professor of global health and nutrition at Cornell University.