Kate Wolin, ScD, FACSM, FSBM
Partner, PACE Healthcare Capital · InsideTracker
Behavioral epidemiologist, digital health investor, and Kellogg adjunct advising the personalized blood-and-DNA analytics platform
About
Kate Wolin, ScD is a behavioral epidemiologist, digital health entrepreneur, investor, and educator who has spent two decades threading the needle between academic rigor and commercial scale in health behavior change. She earned her doctorate in epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health (NCI pre-doctoral fellow; minors in biostatistics and health behavior) after a summa cum laude BA in anthropology at Tufts, then completed an NCI post-doctoral fellowship in cancer epidemiology at Northwestern Feinberg. Faculty appointments followed at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis / Siteman Cancer Center and Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, where she generated $4M+ in federal research funding and contributed to 75+ peer-reviewed publications on physical activity, behavioral epidemiology, and cancer prevention. She is currently Partner at PACE Healthcare Capital, founder of behavioral-science consultancy Circea, and Adjunct Professor in Healthcare at Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern).
What to Know
Signature approach
Wolin's contribution to InsideTracker is the behavior-change layer — the bridge between a biomarker readout and a person actually doing something different. Her academic career at Washington University / Siteman Cancer Center and Loyola Stritch built the evidence base for physical activity as cancer prevention; her operating career at ScaleDown (CEO and co-founder, sold to Anthem) and Optum's DTC business translated that science into engagement-driven products. The thesis she brings to the SAB: data without context doesn't change behavior — the right insight delivered at the right moment, framed against intrinsic motivation, is what moves the needle.
What sets them apart
- 75+ peer-reviewed publications and $4M+ in federal research funding generated during her academic career at Washington University School of Medicine / Siteman Cancer Center and Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.
- Member of the leadership group that wrote the 2010 ACSM Roundtable on Exercise Guidelines for Cancer Survivors — one of the first formal exercise-for-cancer-survivors guidelines.
- Operator credentials, not just an academic. CEO and co-founder of ScaleDown (acquired by Anthem); Chief Science Officer at a private-equity-backed employer health platform; Head of Product for Optum's direct-to-consumer business.
- Dual fellow — FACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) and FSBM (Society of Behavioral Medicine). Named a Forbes Healthcare Innovator (2022) and a Crain's Chicago Business Notable Woman in STEM (2023).
Affiliations
Scientific Advisor
Thought Leadership
Publications
- Physical activity and colon cancer prevention: a meta-analysis · British Journal of Cancer, 2009
- American College of Sports Medicine roundtable on exercise guidelines for cancer survivors · Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2010
- Physical activity and risk of colon adenoma: a meta-analysis · British Journal of Cancer, 2011
Notable Collaborators
- Graham A. Colditz, MD, DrPH · Washington University / Siteman Cancer Center co-author across the physical activity and colorectal cancer prevention research line.
- Kathryn H. Schmitz, PhD · Lead author on the 2010 ACSM Roundtable on Exercise Guidelines for Cancer Survivors — Wolin contributed as a member of the leadership group.
Other specialists at InsideTracker
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