Javiera Rossel

Javiera Rossel is a journalist, health communication researcher, and doctoral student in Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas. Born and raised in Santiago, Chile, she earned a bachelor's degree in Journalism and a master's degree in Marketing from the University of Chile. Her academic and professional trajectory has focused on the intersection of communication, health, gender, and digital media. 

Before beginning her PhD, Javiera worked in public institutions and nonprofit organizations, developing communication strategies related to public policy, health, and human rights. She also served as Director of the Chilean Observatory of Obstetric Violence (OVO Chile), where she led advocacy campaigns, media outreach, and research initiatives focused on reproductive health, obstetric violence, and respectful maternity care. This experience shaped her interest in how communication influences access to health information, healthcare experiences, and decision-making. 

In 2025, she began her doctoral studies at the University of Kansas as a Fulbright-ANID scholar. Her primary research area is health communication, with interests in eHealth literacy, health information seeking, misinformation, media representation, social media, digital inequalities, and emerging technologies. Her research examines how people encounter, interpret, and use health information across media environments, including social media and generative AI. Her current work spans women’s health, pregnancy and childbirth, menstrual health, grief, and health misinformation. 

Javiera’s interdisciplinary approach draws from health communication, feminist theory, and digital media studies to examine how media and communication technologies shape health knowledge, representation, and inequalities. She is particularly interested in whose experiences and forms of knowledge become visible, legitimate, or marginalized within health and media systems.