EXHIBIT 31.1

CARA THERAPEUTICS, INC.

CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

I, Derek Chalmers, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this Annual
Report on Form 10-K of Cara Therapeutics, Inc.;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to
state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The
registrants other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:



| | (a) | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its
consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
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| | (b) | Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrants disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of
the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
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| | (c) | Disclosed in this report any change in the registrants internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrants most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably
likely to materially affect, the registrants internal control over financial reporting; and
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5. The registrants other certifying
officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrants auditors and the audit committee of the registrants board of directors (or persons performing the
equivalent functions):



| | (a) | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrants ability to record,
process, summarize and report financial information; and
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| | (b) | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrants internal control over financial reporting.
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|                     |  |  |  |     |  |                            |  | 
|-------------------- |  |  |  | --- |  | -------------------------- |  | 
|Date: March 27, 2014 |  |  |  | By: |  | /s/  Derek Chalmers, Ph.D. |  | 
|                     |  |  |  |     |  | DEREK CHALMERS             |  | 
|                     |  |  |  |     |  | CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER    |  |