Kara Hume, is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Hume has worked with and learned from autistic children and adults for almost 35 years in a variety of capacities, including a home program therapist, teacher, TEACCH trainer, CrossFit coach, and researcher. Her research focuses on increasing access for individuals with developmental disabilities to high quality community-based supports. For fun, Hume leads an inclusive and adaptive fitness class in the Chapel Hill community called Power Hour. She and colleagues were recently awarded an NIH R01 grant to study the impact of this inclusive exercise programming on the health and wellbeing of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
During her years at UNC-Chapel Hill, Hume, in collaboration with a number of colleagues across departments and disciplines, has received over $21 million in funding as PI or Co-PI, published more than 80 manuscripts and book chapters, and has led two of the largest studies to date examining the efficacy of school-based interventions for students with developmental disabilities. The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee has four times nominated or identified her work as a top-20 yearly scientific advance in ASD research.