Jessica Malaty Rivera

Jessica Malaty Rivera is an internationally recognized infectious disease epidemiologist and science communicator. She has dedicated the last 15 years of her career to emerging infectious disease surveillance, public health policy, and vaccine advocacy. Her specialty is in translating complex scientific concepts into impactful, judgment-free, and accessible information for a diverse audience.

She is a Research Fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital Innovation & Digital Health Accelerator, a Researcher at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, and a Senior Science Communication Advisor at the deBeaumont Foundation. Rivera also dedicates several hours a week to promoting science literacy and debunking misinformation on social media and serves as the Chair of the Committee of Scientific and Medical Advisors for the nonprofit Vaccinate Your Family.

From 2020-2021, Rivera served as the Science Communication Lead for The COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic. In 2021, she was named one of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” by Fortune Magazine for her work on COVID-19 research and data communication and in 2022, she was named of the Top 50 Leaders in Digital Health by Rock Health. She has appeared on national and local broadcast news, Instagram Lives with Sophia Bush and Sheryl Sandberg, and the cover of Parents magazine.

Rivera earned her Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Studies at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine. She earned her Master Of Science in Biohazardous Threat Agents and Emerging Infectious Diseases from Georgetown University, School of Medicine. She is pursuing a Doctorate in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.