Dr. Pamela Valera is an assistant professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Studies and Behavioral Health Sciences, with a joint appointment in the Department of Urban Health Administration at the School of Public Health, Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey. She is trained in cancer prevention, community social work, criminal justice, public health, health disparities, criminal justice/prisoner reentry, tobacco dependence, and HIV prevention. In Dr. Valera's research studies, she uses a public health and social work lens to explore health behaviors and health promotion strategies to reduce the detrimental effects of incarceration, cancer burden (particularly cigarette smoking/tobacco use), and HIV in men. Specifically, she engages in scholarship that explores how situational and contextual factors influence the health of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated men.