Cara received her MPH from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During her time as a student, Cara was employed as a graduate research assistant at the Wisconsin Surgical Outcomes Research Program. In this role, she served as a project coordinator for a national, multi-site survey validation study for patients with vocal fold paralysis. Her master’s thesis focused on the obstacles that undiagnosed rare disease patients face while navigating the healthcare system, a subject near and dear to her heart as a rare disease patient herself.
Before joining CEPH, Cara worked in the Department of Surgery at UW-Madison, first in administration then as an assistant researcher. In both of those positions, she enjoyed finding ways to elevate the patient voice to affect change in the healthcare system.
In her spare time, you’ll find her at the gym coaching youth volleyball or binging audiobooks and podcasts while walking her dog, Pancake!