Dr. Kara Whitaker is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Health, Sport, and Human Physiology at the University of Iowa, where she also holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Epidemiology in the College of Public Health. She was named the University of Iowa’s Early Career Scholar of the Year in 2022 and received the Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Award in 2025. She is also a Fellow of both the American Heart Association (FAHA) and the American College of Sports Medicine (FACSM). Dr. Whitaker earned her BS in Kinesiology from the University of Michigan and her MPH and PhD in Exercise Science from the University of South Carolina. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on how sedentary behavior, physical activity, and sleep (conceptualized as 24-hour activity patterns) influence cardiovascular disease and related health outcomes. Her work aims to build the evidence base needed to design interventions that reduce sedentary time, increase physical activity, and promote healthy sleep to improve population health. A central emphasis of her research is supporting women during pregnancy, a critical period in which behavior change can benefit both maternal and child health.