Dr. Rivera completed medical school Yale University and then completed general surgery at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.

Following that she did a fellowship in head and neck cancer surgery and microvascular reconstruction at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo New York.

She has been involved in cancer research and has published a number of papers:
Cemile Nurdan Ozturk , Arvind D. Manisundaram , Mariangela Rivera , Can Ozturk , Wong Moon. DIEP Flap Transplantation in Monozygotic Twins for Breast Reconstruction: A Case Report and Literature Review. J Reconstr Microsurg Open 2023; 08(01): e66-e72
Cheng D, McNicoll CF, Kirgan D, Jones MS, Rivera M, Doyle GM,De Guzman M, Baynosa J, St Hill C.The Role of FDG-PET-CT is Limited in Initial Staging of Nodal Metastasis for Thin Cutaneous Melanoma. The American Journal of Surgery. 2020 Apr; online
Martinez C, McDougal E, Gilstrap J, Friedman HI, Rivera, M. An Oral Presentation of Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans With Literature Review: A Case Report. International Journal of Surgery Case Reports 2020 Sept;76(98-102)
Mariangela Rivera, Syed Abdul-Rahman, Wesley L. Hicks, Kimberly E. Wooten, Hassan H. Arshad, Sai Yendamuri, Vishal Gupta, Vocal Cord Dysfunction in the Thoracic Patient, Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Volume 227, Issue 4, Supplement 2, 2018, Page e101,ISSN 1072-7515,
Rivera M, Moon W, Ozturk C, Ozturk CN. Breast Implant Infection Can be Successfully Treated with Nonsurgical Therapy. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open. 2017 Sep;5(9 Suppl).
Ozturk CN, Ozturk C, Soucise A, Platek M, Ahsan N, Rivera M, Lohman R, Moon W, Djohan R. Device Explantation after Prosthetic Breast Reconstruction: Patient Characteristics and Timeline. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open. 2017 Sep;5(9 Suppl).
Jones M, Rivera M, Puccinelli C, Wang M, Williams S, Barber A. “A Simple Intervention to Improve Wound Healing: Targeted Amino Acid Supplementation in Diabetic Foot Wounds”. Surgical Infections. Sept 2014. PMID 25215468
Feigel A, Muto A, Fancher T, Rivera M, Feinstein A, Kim S, Kondo Y, Dardik A. A Novel Cellular Model of Vein Graft Adaptation. Journal of Vascular Surgery. 2010 Feb 1;51(2):533.
Feigel A, Muto A, Fancher T, Rivera M, Feinstein A, Kim S, Kondo Y, Dardik A. An in Vitro Endothelial Cell Model Confirms the Importance Eph-B4 during Vein Graft Adaptation. Journal of Surgical Research. 2010 Feb 1;158(2):300.
10. Rivera M. The Role of EphB4 Tyrosine Kinase in Mouse Lung Endothelial Cell Function. Thesis Yale University 2010
11. Rivera M, Muto A, Feigel A, Kondo Y, Dardik A. "Venous and arterial identity: a role for caveolae?" Vascular. 2009 May; 17(S1): S10-4. PMID: 19426603