Kara Hume, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, serving as Program Coordinator for Applied Developmental Sciences and Special Education, Richard “Dick” Coop Faculty Scholar in Education, Faculty Fellow at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, and Director of the National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence and Practice. She earned her Ph.D. in Special Education from Indiana University Bloomington in 2007, M.Ed. in Educational Psychology from Arizona State University in 2002, and B.S. in Special Education from the University of Evansville in 1995. Hume has collaborated with autistic children and adults for over 30 years in various capacities, including home program therapist, classroom teacher for seven years primarily with students on the autism spectrum, trainer, consultant, CrossFit coach, and researcher. She is a Certified Advanced Consultant with the UNC TEACCH Autism Program. Her career at UNC began in 2008 as an Investigator at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, advancing through roles such as Research Assistant Professor in the School of Education (2011–2015), Research Associate Professor (2015–2019), and to her current Associate Professor position since 2019.

Hume's research focuses on school-, home-, and community-based interventions for individuals with autism and developmental disabilities across the age spectrum to promote independence, evidence-based practices, professional development for special education providers, structured teaching strategies, and access to high-quality community services. She has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on projects securing over $21 million in funding, including Institute of Education Sciences grants for the Center on Secondary Education for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (CSESA, 2012–2018), a follow-up study on post-high school employment, education, and community integration for adolescents with autism, an intervention to enhance self-determination and social connectedness in high schools, and a National Institutes of Health R01 grant for the PACE project evaluating physical activity programs like Power Hour for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She has published more than 80 manuscripts and book chapters, with over 11,540 citations. Key publications include “Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder: A comprehensive review” (Wong et al., 2015, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders), “Early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) for young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD)” (Reichow et al., 2012, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews), and “Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism: Third generation review” (Hume et al., 2021, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders). Her contributions have been recognized by the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, which has identified her work as a top-20 yearly scientific advance in ASD research multiple times, and she received the 2025 Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research Award.

Professional Email: kara.hume@unc.edu