Kara Polen, MPH

Team Lead, Health Communications and Research Translation Team
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Kara Polen, MPH is the Lead for the Health Communications and Research Translation Team in CDC’s Infant Outcomes Monitoring, Research, and Prevention Branch. In this role, she leads efforts to promote surveillance and research findings on the impact of exposures during pregnancy. Her team also translates data into action on topics ranging from emerging threats during pregnancy to prenatal substance exposure. Ms. Polen has served in a variety of roles for CDC’s public health emergency responses, including COVID-19, the 2019 Lung Injury outbreak, the 2016 Zika virus outbreak, and the 2015 West Africa Ebola Virus outbreak.

After joining CDC in 2006 as an epidemiologist, she has led multiple analyses to learn what might increase the risk for birth defects, contributed to the development of public health guidelines, and effectively communicated about CDC’s work. Ms. Polen received her MPH from Emory University in 2008 and her B.S from Indiana State University in 2005.

Poster(s):

• Perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccines among people from racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States who were pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic: Four virtual focus groups, June 2021

• State and Local Success Stories for a Surveillance System on the Impact of Emerging Threats during Pregnancy