Jessica Malaty Rivera
Jessica Malaty Rivera is an infectious disease epidemiologist and science communicator helping people make sense of public health, vaccines, and the information they encounter online.
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Jessica’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus her backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Substack
TEDOverview
- Work
- Infectious disease epidemiologist, infodemiologist, and science communicator
- Grew up
- Los Angeles, in a family with Egyptian immigrant parents
- Education
- BS at USC; MS at Georgetown; doctoral studies in public health at Johns Hopkins
- Breakout
- Public Instagram science Q&As and The COVID Tracking Project in 2020
Mini bio
How it started.
Jessica grew up in Los Angeles with parents who immigrated from Egypt. She initially planned to become a doctor, but a course connecting public health and human rights helped redirect her toward global health. She later worked on emerging-threat surveillance through Georgetown’s Project Argus.
Finding her audience.
In February 2020, she made her private Instagram account public and began answering science questions in Stories. She joined The COVID Tracking Project in April 2020 and served as its science communication lead, helping translate pandemic data for the public.
Making science make sense.
Her work now spans Instagram explainers, the Making Science Make Sense newsletter, interviews, and live conversations. She leads the Infodemiology Initiative at The Public Good Projects while continuing research and doctoral study at Johns Hopkins. A recurring concern is how people decide which health information to trust.
Creditschronological, newest first
- 2026Taking ShotsLive video collaborator with Angela Rasmussen
- 2025The infodemic and the scientists fighting against itTEDNext speaker in conversation with Whitney Pennington Rodgers
- 2025Journal of Public Health Management and PracticeAssociate editor
- 2023The COVID Tracking Project podcastHost
- 2020–2021The COVID Tracking Project at The AtlanticScience communication lead
Awards
Quotes
A vaccine in a vial does not save a life. A vaccination does.Jessica Malaty Rivera, Argent Work Friends interview
Explaining why clear communication is essential to turning scientific progress into public health protection.
Trivia
- Arabic was her first language.
- She is a mother of three.
- She describes herself as too extroverted for a career spent entirely in the lab.
Find Jessica
Follow Jessica for science explainers, conversations, and public health updates.
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