The Rutgers Board of Governors has announced the promotion of Yonaira M. Rivera from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor of Communication with tenure, effective July 1, 2026.
"Please join me in congratulating Dr. Yonaira Rivera," said Interim Dean and Professor of Communication Mark Aakhus. We are very proud of Yonaira's accomplishments and the work she does—and very happy that she is doing all of this here with us at SC&I."
Chair of the Communication Department, Professor Marya Doerfel, added, "Dr. Rivera’s research combines rigorous interdisciplinary scholarship with community engagement to ensure the validity and impact of empirical research. Her work on health information and misinformation in Latino communities addresses urgent public health challenges and exemplifies the kind of research that makes a difference. We are proud to celebrate her promotion and tenure."
Rivera, who was awarded the 2025 Award for Excellence in Teaching from SC&I, leads a research program focused on reducing health inequities and improving the well-being of Latino/a/x and other underserved communities through health communication initiatives. Rivera’s work specifically examines how engagement with health information on social media impacts health decisions, promotes access to multilingual and culturally relevant health information, and facilitates community engagement through digital spaces.
She has received funding from the National Cancer Institute, including an F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award and a Loan Repayment Program Award in health disparities research.
A Douglass Residential College Faculty Fellow from 2024 to 2026, Rivera has published her work in leading communication and public health journals, including the Journal of Communication, Health Communication, and JMIR.
Rivera’s current projects include developing community-led, culturally relevant, multilingual health communication interventions for Latino/a/x audiences, and exploring the role social media platforms play in facilitating health communication efforts among community leaders in Puerto Rico. She also studies how LLMs can communicate health information in accessible, reliable, and culturally sensitive ways.
An associate member of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program and member of the Center for Cancer Health Equity at the Rutgers Cancer Institute, Rivera is also a core faculty member of the Rutgers Global Health Institute and affiliated faculty for the Rutgers Center for Latin American Studies.
An alumna, Rivera earned a B.S. in Biotechnology from Rutgers, an M.P.H. in Behavioral Sciences and Health Education from Emory University, and a Ph.D. in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Johns Hopkins School of Health.
Learn more about the Communication Department at Rutgers School of Communication and Information.
