Dr. Fabienne Pradella
GW1, room B2260
Phone: +49 421 218-68827
Email: pradellaprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
Publications:
ORCID
Research interests
Fabienne Pradella’s research focuses on the impact of dietary and environmental exposures in early life, particularly during pregnancy, on health across the life course. Her work is situated within the field of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD). She also applies her expertise in econometric methods to interdisciplinary projects, for example investigating the association between herpes zoster vaccination and the risk of dementia in older adults.
At the IPP, Fabienne Pradella is conducting research as part of her project funded by the Central Research Development Fund, focusing on social inequalities in environmental exposures during pregnancy and associated health consequences.
Researcher in the Department of Social Epidemiology
Memberships
German Society for Epidemiology (DGEpi)
German Alliance for Global Health Research (GLOHRA)
International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE)
Deutsche Allianz Klimawandel und Gesundheit (KLUG)
Committee Work
Speaker of the working group “Pädiatrische Epidemiologie“, German Society for Epidemiology
Founding member of the working group “Klimawandel und Nachhaltigkeit“, German Society for Epidemiology
Associate Editor for Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology, Frontiers in Epidemiology
Member of the Gutenberg Council for Academic Careers / Advice to the Executive Board of Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, 2022 – 2026
Deputy Equal Opportunities Officer at the Faculty of Law and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, 2021 – 2024
Awards and Scholarships
Best Doctoral Thesis in Economics, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, 2023
Gutenberg-Scholarship for excellent research relating to the city of Mainz, City Mainz, 2022
Member of the Gutenberg Academy of Excellence, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, 2020 – 2022
Poster award, Annual Conference of the German Society for Epidemiology, 2018
Poster award in the category „Epidemiology“, Annual Conference of the Dt. Gesellschaft für Medizinische Informatik, Biometrie und Epidemiologie, 2017
Top Grade M.Sc. „Food and Resource Economics“, 2013
Engagement Global gGmbH grant for participation in the ASA-Programm, 2012 (Project: „Alternatives to charcoal production“, Région des Plateaux, Togo)
Honours Program, „Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences”, Maastricht University, 2008 - 2010
Professional Career
Since 2026
Researcher at the IPP (Department of Social Epidemiology)
02/2026
Research visit at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)
Since 03/2024
Researcher, Heidelberg University Hospital (Heidelberg Institute of Global Health)
Since 03/2024
Affiliated researcher, Stanford Medicine (Primary Care and Population Health)
2023 - 2024
Visiting Researcher, Harvard School of Public Health (Department of Environmental Epidemiology)
2015 - 2026
Researcher, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Department of Statistics and Econometrics)
Academic Career
2015 - 2022
Doctorate in Health Economics (Dr. rer. pol.)
Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
2010 - 2013
Master of Science: Food and Resource Economics
Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms University of Bonn
2009 - 2009
Erasmus International internship, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Regional office Kyiv and Belarus (Ukraine)
2007 - 2010
Bachelor of Arts: European Studies
Maastricht University (Netherlands)
Projects
Beyond Pregnancy: Social Inequalities in Heat Exposure during Pregnancy and Impacts on Long-Term Maternal Health
Research team: Dr. Fabienne Pradella (Projektleitung)
“How do prenatal and postnatal circumstances interact in shaping health? An interdisciplinary approach using quasi-experiments”, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), since 2022
Research team: Prof. Dr. Reyn van Ewijk (PI), Prof. Dr. Dr. Sabine Gabrysch (PI), Dr. Fabienne Pradella (Co-PI), Nathalie Lambrecht Ph.D., Timo Münz, Nadja Hartmann
“Ramadan during pregnancy: effects on health and fertility across the generations”, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), since 2022
Research team: Prof. Dr. Reyn van Ewijk (PI), Dr. Fabienne Pradella (Co-PI), Van My Tran
Funding for scientific events
Training Offer for early-career researchers „Integrated Training on “Place“ in Global Health – From Geospatial Methods to Positionality”, German Alliance for Global Health Research, with Melanie Böckmann und Alexandre Pereira Santos, September 2026
Training Offer for early-career researchers “Story matters: an introduction to document analysis approaches and mixed methods data visualization”, German Alliance for Global Health Research, with Melanie Böckmann und Alexandre Pereira Santos, 2025 (Report)
Scientific Workshop “Causal methods in early-life research”, German Alliance for Global Health Research (GLOHRA), with Nathalie Lambrecht, Sabine Gabrysch & Reyn van Ewijk, 2024 (Report)
Journale articles reviewed
Herbst L, Van Ewijk R, Pradella F. Health disparities in the impact of prenatal rainfall variation on child growth: quasi-experimental evidence from Peru. AJE Advances: Research in Epidemiology. 2026;2(2):uuag018. doi:10.1093/ajeadv/uuag018. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajeadv/uuag018
Pradella F, Gabrysch S, Van Ewijk R. Prenatal and postnatal droughts interact in shaping cognitive development. Commun Med. 2026;6(1):233. doi:10.1038/s43856-026-01578-7. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-026-01578-7
Münz TS, Pradella F, Lambrecht NJ, Gabrysch S, Van Ewijk R. Temperatures around conception affect metabolic health in adulthood. Communications Medicine. 2026;6(1):172
Witte P, Pradella F*, Van Ewijk R. The impact of healthcare provision on immigrant pregnancy behaviors: the case of Ramadan fasting in Germany. Journal of Migration and Health. 2025;12, 100349. *corresponding author
Khanal S, Schubert T, Böckmann M, Pradella F. Assessing health facility preparedness in Nepal for addressing climate-related disasters and climate-sensitive diseases. Frontiers in Climate. 2025;7:1625829
Kana MA, Usman B, Mohammed-Durosinlorun A, Ahmed J, Abubakar HH, Abdulmalik Y, Pradella F. Ramadan during pregnancy and the role of dietary intake for neonatal health in Kaduna, Northwestern Nigeria: a cross-sectional study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 2025;25(1):59
Pomirchy M, Bommer C, Pradella F, Michalik F, Peters R, Geldsetzer P. Herpes Zoster Vaccination and Dementia Occurrence. JAMA. 2025;333(23):2083. doi:10.1001/jama.2025.5013
Tran V, Van Ewijk R, Pradella F. Ramadan during pregnancy and offspring age at menarche in Indonesia: a quasi-experimental study. Nutrients. 2025;17(9):1406
Pradella F, Van Ewijk R. Mechanisms linking prenatal environment and linear growth: the case of Ramadan during pregnancy. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2025;194(8):2315-2324. doi:10.1093/aje/kwae386
Elizabeth PM, Pradella F, Su TT, Seiermann AU, Schoeps A, Ismail R, van Ewijk R, Winkler V, Mahanani MR. No Evidence for an Association Between In Utero Ramadan Exposure and the Health Outcomes of Mean Arterial Pressure and Random Blood Glucose in Adulthood: Evidence from SEACO in Malaysia. Journal of Nutritional Science. 2024;14:e87
Pradella F, Witte P, Van Ewijk R. Ramadan during pregnancy and offspring health outcomes over the life course: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Human Reproduction Update. 2024;30(6):789-812. doi:10.1093/humupd/dmae026
Pradella F, Leimer B, Fruth A, Queißer-Wahrendorf A, Van Ewijk R. Ramadan during pregnancy and neonatal health—Fasting, dietary composition and sleep patterns. PLoS ONE. 2023;18(2):e0281051
Pradella F, Van Ewijk R. As long as the breath lasts: In utero exposure to Ramadan and the occurrence of wheezing in adulthood. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2018;187(10):2100-2108
Leimer B*, Pradella F*, Fruth A, Queißer A, Van Ewijk R. Ramadan Observance during Pregnancy in Germany: a Challenge for Prenatal Care. Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde. 2018;78(7):684-689. * (shared first-authorship)
Further publications (not reviewed)
Pradella F, Böckmann M. Schnell ausgedacht? Storytelling in der Wissenschaftskommunikation im Bereich Public Health und Pflege. IPPinfo. 2026;22(19):14-15. (Link)
Sandevski T. Policy sessions at the annual meetings of the German Society for Epidemiology. Interview with Dr. Fabienne Pradella. Published online 2025. ENGAGE Green (funded by the European Union), Goethe University Frankfurt. (Link)
Pradella F, Van Ewijk R. Ramadanfasten in der Schwangerschaft? Beratung von schwangeren Muslimas. doctors|today. 2023;3(3):46-47
El-Awady N. Pregnancy in Ramadan: moderating negative birthweight outcomes. Interview. Published online February 15, 2023. (Link)