Anna Rivara, M.P.H., Ph.D. - Faculty Profile

Biography

Anna C Rivara, PhD, MPH is an Assistant Professor in the Peter O' Donnell School of Public Health. Dr. Rivara completed an undergraduate degree in Anthropology at the University of Oregon, a Master of Arts degree in African Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and an MPH (Infection Control) and PhD in Applied Anthropology at the University of South Florida. She then went on to complete a Global Health Equity Scholars post-doctoral fellowship at the Yale School of Public Health (funded by NIH Fogarty International Center and NIDDK) and continued as a post-doctoral associate and Associate Research Scientist at the Yale School of Public Health. Her post-doctoral work primarily focused on identifying type 2 diabetes risk factors among adults in the Independent State of Samoa.

Dr. Rivara uses mixed-methods approaches and the tools of implementation science to identify ways to improve health services delivery and outcomes among people living with diabetes. She is funded through a NIH NIDDK Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award (K01) and is assessing changes in diabetes care preferences (captured via Discrete Choice Experiments), glycemia, and illness experiences over time among adult Samoans living with diabetes. Locally, Dr. Rivara is working to start a research program focused on improving risk assessments and care delivery for diabetes-related comorbidities (including Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Steatotic Liver Disease – MASLD), among underserved populations, and understudied demographics.

Education

Graduate School: University of South Florida (2017)

Research Interest

Chronic Disease Management
Global Health
Health Disparities
Implementation Science
Mixed Methods

Publications

Featured Publications

Accelerometer-Based Estimates of Physical Activity and Sedentary Time Among Samoan Adults.: Hawley NL, Zarei P, Crouter SE, Desai MM, Pomer A, Rivara AC, Naseri T, Reupena MS, Viali S, Duckham RL, McGarvey ST, J Phys Act Health 2024 Jul 21 7 636-644
Indication of mixed glucose and fatty acid use by inferred brown adipose tissue activity in Samoans.: Niclou A, Vesi L, Arorae M, Naseri NC, Savusa KF, Naseri T, Young J, Rivara AC, Ocobock C, Am J Hum Biol 2024 Mar 36 3 e23998
When the cold gets under your skin: Evidence for brown adipose tissue activity in Samoan adults.: Niclou A, Vesi L, Arorae M, Naseri NC, Faasalele Savusa K, Naseri T, DeLany JP, McGarvey ST, Rivara AC, Ocobock C, Am J Biol Anthropol 2024 Feb 183 2 e24848
Association between age at menarche and cardiometabolic risk among Samoan adults.: Oyama S, Duckham RL, Pomer A, Rivara AC, Kershaw EE, Wood A, Fidow UT, Naseri T, Reupena MS, Viali S, McGarvey ST, Hawley NL, Am J Hum Biol 2024 Jan 36 1 e23982
Associations between fasting glucose rate-of-change and the missense variant, rs373863828, in an adult Samoan cohort.: Rivara AC, Russell EM, Carlson JC, Pomer A, Naseri T, Reupena MS, Manna SL, Viali S, Minster RL, Weeks DE, DeLany JP, Kershaw EE, McGarvey ST, Hawley NL, PLoS One 2024 19 6 e0302643
Cardiovascular risk factors across different levels of urbanization in Brazilian Afro-derived communities (quilombos).: Paiva SG, Rivara AC, de Castro Nóbrega M, de Cesare Parmesan Toledo R, de Nazaré Klautau-Guimarães M, Madrigal L, de Oliveira SF, Am J Hum Biol 2023 Apr 35 4 e23839
Validity of anthropometric equation-based estimators of fat mass in Samoan adults.: Heinsberg LW, Hawley NL, Duckham RL, Pomer A, Rivara AC, Naseri T, Reupena MS, Weeks DE, McGarvey ST, Minster RL, Am J Hum Biol 2023 Mar 35 3 e23838
Protocol: Implementation and evaluation of an adolescent-mediated intervention to improve glycemic control and diabetes self-management among Samoan adults.: Hawley NL, Rivara AC, Naseri J, Faumuina K, Potoa'e-Solaita N, Iopu F, Faiai M, Naveno E, Tasele S, Lefale T, Lantini R, Carlson JC, Rabin TL, Semaia P, Mugadza P, Rosen RK, PLoS One 2023 18 2 e0279084
Identifying patient preferences for diabetes care: A protocol for implementing a discrete choice experiment in Samoa.: Rivara AC, Galárraga O, Selu M, Arorae M, Wang R, Faasalele-Savusa K, Rosen R, Hawley NL, Viali S, PLoS One 2023 18 12 e0295845
The protective effect of rs373863828 on type 2 diabetes does not operate through a body composition pathway in adult Samoans.: Hawley NL, Duckham RL, Carlson JC, Naseri T, Reupena MS, Lameko V, Pomer A, Wetzel A, Selu M, Lupematisila V, Unasa F, Vesi L, Fatu T, Unasa S, Faasalele-Savusa K, Rivara AC, Russell E, Delany JP, Viali S, Kershaw EE, Minster RL, Weeks DE, McGarvey ST, Obesity (Silver Spring) 2022 Dec 30 12 2468-2476