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Kara Ayers, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati. As the Associate Director of the University of Cincinnati Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Ayers applies her professional knowledge, research experience, and personal perspective to make systemic changes to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

Her areas of interest and research include disability policy, parenting with a disability, self-advocacy, psychosocial development with a disability, and disability in the media. Her dissertation focused on the psychosocial development of children and adolescents with osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease.

Ayers is also the co-founder of the Disabled Parenting Project, a peer-to-peer support network for parents with disabilities. She has served for the past five years on the boards of the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation and The Association for Successful Parenting.

Ayers received her PhD in clinical psychology from Nova Southeastern University.

Ayers was appointed as a member of the PCORI Board of Governors by the Comptroller General of the United States in September 2018.