Director of Cardiology Prevention Education

Dr. Juan J. Rivera is a board certified Internist and Cardiologist who specializes in the prevention, early detection and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, he graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine. Dr. Rivera then pursued an Internal Medicine internship and residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. During his last residency year, he was accepted at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, to do a combined cardiovascular disease fellowship and a master’s in cardiovascular epidemiology. During his years in Baltimore, he became a prolific researcher and won the Johns Hopkins Stanley Blumenthal Clinical Research Award given to the best research project at an institutional level. Dr. Rivera has published many peer reviewed articles in most of the scientific Cardiology journals and is a reviewer for The American Journal of Cardiology, Atherosclerosis and Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. He served on the editorial board of the American Heart Hospital Journal.

Dr. Rivera is also very active in community education in matters that relate to health and wellness. He was the Chief Medical Correspondent for Telemundo/NBC Network from 2009 to 2011 with weekly appearances on Telemundo’s national shows “Al Rojo Vivo” and/or “Noticiero Telemundo”. He created and operated a wellness blog, Corazon Hispano, in which he educated the Hispanic community on disease prevention and lifestyle issues. In 2008, he was the recipient of Vista Magazine’s Health Specialization Award for his commitment with the Hispanic community in the area of health education and wellness promotion. Dr. Rivera has written for many newspapers and magazines, including The Washington Hispanic and Cardiology Today and People en Español. He has also been a frequent national radio guest. Dr. Rivera has been a guest speaker and has moderated several health panels during the annual Congressional Hispanic Caucus Public Policy Meeting.

In 2012, Dr. Rivera began as the Chief Medical Correspondent of Univision where he created numerous campaigns for the betterment of the health and wellness of the Hispanic community. Among these campaigns was “Reto 28”, a free 28-day diet plan, that benefitted 400,000 members of the Hispanic community. In 2013, Dr. Rivera visited different countries while filming his show called Strange Medicine where he learned about alternative remedies. In May 2017, he began his weekly 1-hour health show on Univision called Dr. Juan Show. Dr. Rivera and WebMD combined forces in 2017 to educate the Hispanic community about health through their project called “My Abuelita Told Me”.

In 2009, he joined the clinical practice of Dr. Arthur Agatston, creator and author of the South Beach Diet. In 2012, Dr. Rivera decided to start his own Cardiology practice. He holds voluntary academic appointments in the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Miami.