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Dr Robert Pralat

Positions held:
  • Lecturer in Sociology and Public Health, School of Social Sciences
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  • Overview

    Overview

    Biography

    Robert is a Lecturer in Sociology and Public Health. Prior to joining 糖心logo入口 in 2026, he held various roles at the University of Cambridge, most recently as a research associate at THIS Institute in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care and, before that, as a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the Department of Sociology.

    A medical sociologist and qualitative researcher, Robert is recognised for his work on reproductive technologies and queer parenthood. His recent research has focused on challenges facing clinical practice and the organisation of healthcare.

    Robert has a multidisciplinary background, with a BSc in Psychology and an MA in Gender Studies from the University of Leeds as well as a PhD in Sociology from the University of Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (Advance HE).

    Having served on the editorial boards of journals Culture, Health & Sexuality and Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online, Robert currently chairs the board of Sociology of Health & Illness.

    Web profiles

    ORCID

  • Research

    Research

    Research interests

    • Health, illness and medicine
    • Technology in healthcare
    • Parenthood and reproduction
    • Identity, intimacy and sexuality
    • Imagining the future

    Research overview

    Robert鈥檚 research furthers the understanding of how changing social norms and emerging technologies shape clinical practice, the organisation of healthcare, and attitudes of users and providers of medical support. Much of his work has explored how sexual minorities and people living with HIV approach new possibilities that enable them to become parents. In recent years, his research has expanded into other areas of health, advancing a sociological analysis of cultures and systems of medicine while examining challenges facing the English NHS.

    Across multiple projects, Robert鈥檚 research has shown how individuals, professions and institutions respond to new realities, with specific attention to how people imagine the future and how interpersonal relationships are transformed in response to technological innovation and related processes of medicalisation and datafication. An experienced interviewer, Robert has developed effective approaches to studying what people think and how they feel, and what personal narratives reveal about cultural meanings and societal expectations.

    Robert is currently a co-investigator on an NIHR-funded project that examines the professionalisation of patient safety through an evaluation of new safety-related roles in the English NHS. He is also writing outputs from recently completed projects on planning for end-of-life care (funded by the Health Foundation) and on supporting child mental health (funded by UKRI). A common thread running through these projects is the question of how healthcare staff navigate ethical dilemmas amid scientific advances and resource constraints.

  • Supervision and teaching

    Supervision and teaching

    Supervision

    Robert is available to supervise students who are curious about society and interested in using sociology and qualitative methods to understand the world and its contemporary challenges. He can support projects exploring questions that relate to his research interests.

    Teaching

    Robert convenes modules on BA Sociology and is developing the curriculum for 糖心logo入口鈥檚 new BSc Public Health. He has 14 years of teaching experience at the University of Cambridge and King鈥檚 College London, spanning eight programmes across health and social sciences.

    Teaching modules

    • Key Concepts: Global Foundations in Sociology
    • Global Societies
    • Crossing Borders
    • The Politics of Knowledge: Sociology and the World
  • Publications

    Publications

    Article

    • Kuberska, K. and Pralat, Robert and Martin, G. (2026) . The Bulletin of the Royal College of Surgeons of England 108 (4), pp. 215-223. ISSN 1473-6357.
    • Martin, G. and Pralat, Robert and Waring, J. and Peerally, M.F. and Lamont, T. (2025) . Journal of Health Services Research & Policy 30 (1), pp. 40-51. ISSN 1355-8196.
    • Muschialli, L. and Ford, J.V. and Gonsalves, L. and Pralat, Robert Masvawure, Tsitsi B., ed. (2025) . PLOS Global Public Health 5 (3), pp. e0004005. ISSN 2767-3375.
    • Martin, G.P. and Pralat, Robert and Waring, J. and Peerally, M.F. (2025) . Social Science & Medicine 385, pp. 118562. ISSN 0277-9536.
    • Pralat, Robert and Anderson, J. and Burns, F. and Barber, T.J. (2024) . Culture, Health & Sexuality 26 (8), pp. 997-1011. ISSN 1369 1058.
    • Wu, F.M. and Pralat, Robert and Leong, C. and Carter, V. and Fritz, Z. and Martin, G. (2024) . BMC Palliative Care 23 (1), ISSN 1472-684X.
    • Pralat, Robert and Burns, F. and Anderson, J. and Barber, T.J. (2021) . Sociology of Health & Illness 43 (2), pp. 281-298. ISSN 0141-9889.
    • Pralat, Robert and Anderson, J. and Burns, F. and Yarrow, E. and Barber, T.J. (2021) . BMC Public Health 21 (1), ISSN 1471-2458.
    • Pralat, Robert (2021) . Sexualities 24 (1-2), pp. 276-294. ISSN 1363-4607.
    • Pralat, Robert (2020) . The Sociological Review 68 (1), pp. 161-176. ISSN 0038-0261.
    • Barber, T.J. and Borok, T. and Suchak, T. and Weatherall, A. and Docherty, T. and Gamble, N. and Pralat, Robert and Jaspal, R. and Cocker, C. (2019) . Sexually Transmitted Infections 95 (2), pp. 99-101. ISSN 1368-4973.
    • Pralat, Robert (2018) . Journal of Family Issues 39 (18), pp. 4179-4203. ISSN 0192-513X.
    • Pralat, Robert (2015) . Reproductive BioMedicine Online 30 (3), pp. 211-219. ISSN 1472-6483.

    Book review

    • Pralat, Robert (2022) .
    • Pralat, Robert (2020) .

    Book section

    • Pralat, Robert (2025) . In: Franklin, S. and Inhorn, M.C. (eds.) The New Reproductive Order: Technology, Fertility, and Social Change around the Globe. New York, U.S.: New York University Press. pp. 86-102. ISBN 9781479832620.
    • Pralat, Robert (2016) . In: Pooley, S. and Qureshi, K. (eds.) Parenthood Between Generations: Transforming Reproductive Cultures. Berghahn Books. pp. 43-64. ISBN 9781789204674.