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From a young age, Dr. Cara Ebbeling- Zabilansky ’85 loved science and sports. Growing up, her mom taught her and her two sisters the importance of pursuing lives of service. “Mom helped us think about our passions and God-given aptitudes. A career isn’t just work, but something we offer in service to others,” she says. 

For 26 years, the internationally recognized researcher, now an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, has distinguished herself by leading randomized trials that examine how nutrition affects metabolism, energy balance, and body weight. She co-directs the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at Boston Children’s Hospital in Massachusetts and is committed to understanding, preventing, and treating childhood obesity. 

Science that Serves

“Obesity particularly affects people from lower-income communities,” Ebbeling- Zabilansky says. “If you don’t have a stable place to live or your neighborhood is unsafe, it’s hard to focus on being physically active or forming healthy eating patterns.”

Her passion project over the last decade has been an integrated care model that connects health care, community resources, and families. 

“Health is shaped by more than individual choices. Biology, families, communities, and human-created environments all matter. Part of my work is helping build systems and supports that make it easier for children and families to live healthier lives.”

Ebbeling-Zabilansky developed the Boston Children’s fit kit, a set of evidence-based resources for families, healthcare providers, and youth-serving organizations, such as Boys & Girls Clubs. The tools offer clear guidance on nutrition, fitness, sedentary time, sleep, and stress. She finds it gratifying to translate research into real-life practice.

Using a “train-the-trainer” approach, Ebbeling-Zabilansky works with community partners to help implement the fit kit. “We understand the science, and community partners understand their neighbors and the day-to-day realities that shape health behaviors,” she says.

She sees caring for one’s health as a form of stewardship, an expression of gratitude for the bodies God has entrusted to us. “Stewardship is reflected in the practical choices that we make—what we eat, how we stay active, how we get enough rest, and how we manage stress,” she says. She also recognizes that sickness and disability touch every life. “Illness is not a punishment from God but can be a source of deeper faith and dependence on him.” 

Prepared for Learning and Life

At ������Ƶ, Ebbeling-Zabilansky discovered how to combine her lifelong interests in science and sports. Conversations with physical education professor Jim Timmer, Sr., who introduced her to the field of kinesiology before it was a major, shaped her post-graduate studies. As she earned her master’s in exercise science and her doctorate in nutrition, her focus shifted from sport to health.

English 100 with Patricia Tigchelaar built her confidence as a writer—an important skill for a scientist who regularly publishes and presents research. As Peter Tigchelaar’s anatomy laboratory assistant, she learned to model careful attention to detail for students. “Obesity research has become highly specialized and extremely competitive. It’s so important to be meticulous,” she says. At the same time, specialization creates opportunities to develop better interventions in collaboration with people who have deep expertise in their fields. 

Humility Over Certainty

In her church school classroom, where the snacks are healthy and hard questions are welcome, Ebbeling-Zabilansky is known simply as Mrs. Z.

“I could be speaking to an audience of a thousand at a national convention, but is that any more important than those few kids in my classroom? Probably not,” she says. During a game of two truths and a lie, one student couldn’t believe she was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School— “and I thought, oh, good! He doesn’t see me through that lens. He sees me as a person.”

She isn’t afraid to admit when she doesn’t have the answer to a difficult spiritual question, and she emphasizes humanity’s dependence on God. “Teaching church school keeps me grounded in the overarching story of grace in Scripture, and I’m reminded that God uses our imperfect efforts to his glory.”