Kara Palamountain

Kara Palamountain is a Research Professor and Lecturer at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, focusing on sustainability and social impact in global health. She leads market entry analysis for medical technologies in over 15 countries and chairs the Technology Qualification and Innovation Lead role in the NEST360 initiative, managing a $65M grant for neonatal mortality reduction in Africa.

• BBA, University of Texas at Austin (1998)
• MBA, Kellogg School of Management (2004)

Her research spans global health diagnostics, neonatal care innovations, and medical device implementation in low-resource settings, with a focus on Africa. She has authored peer-reviewed articles on HIV testing, tuberculosis diagnostics, and optimized healthcare systems.

Recent publications highlight trends in point-of-care diagnostics, medical device scalability, and data-driven sample transportation. Awards include recognition from the Financial Times (2025), Production and Operations Management Society (2021), and M&SOM Practice-Based Research Competition (2021).