Cara is an Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing. She is an infectious disease epidemiologist, with a focus on health disparities affecting sexual and gender minority populations.  Her program of research is focused specifically on disparities related to sexual health (e.g. HIV and sexually transmitted infections) and substance use. She has extensive experience in survey data collection, the application of advanced statistical methods, and working with high-risk populations. She is passionate about the examination of diseases in their entirety, including biological, sociological and epidemiological factors.