She is the Millicent W. Higgins Collegiate Professor of Epidemiology and Associate Dean for Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
[1] Kardia accepted a faculty position at the University of Michigan School of Public Health (UMich) in 1998.
Her research team discovered that the Apolipoprotein E protein determined how much influence cholesterol and other risk factors had on atherosclerosis.
[4] While serving in this role, Kardia led a nationwide study of 6,250 people to conclude that there was no single genetic cause of hypertension.
[2] She was later named the University of Michigan's School of Public Health’s inaugural Associate Dean for Education[8][9] During the COVID-19 pandemic in North America, Kardia co-led a project to develop an online COVID-19 symptom checklist and COVID-19 dashboard to give Michigan health officials easy access to high risk areas for new coronavirus cases and to assist in educating the public.