Megan Threats, PhD, MSLIS

Dr. Megan Threats is Visiting Research Faculty in the School of Public Health. Her primary appointment is as an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University - New Brunswick. Her program of research centers on leveraging communication and informatics to reduce disparities in linkage and retention in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and human papillomavirus (HPV) prevention and care among sexual and gender minorities of color. She uses a community-based, socio-ecological, intersectional approach to support the development, implementation, and evaluation of consumer health information technologies and culturally-appropriate theory-informed interventions. To inform the development of these tools, she 1) employs user-centered and participatory design techniques, 2) examines multi-level factors that affect sexual and reproductive health service utilization (such as systemic racism and misogynoir), 3) investigates technology usage and health information behaviors (e.g., information needs, seeking, sharing, and use), and 4) explores how their technology use and information behaviors influence health-related decision-making and shape attitudes toward HIV/HPV prevention and care engagement.