Gregory Carter

Conjoint Professor Gregory Carter M.B.B.S. FRANZCP is a Senior Staff Specialist and Acting Director of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry at Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital, and Conjoint Professor in Psychiatry in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Newcastle. He serves as Lead Clinician for Psycho-Oncology in the Hunter New England Cancer Network and is a Principal Researcher in the Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research. Professor Carter chairs the ITC Committee for the RANZCP (Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists) and maintains clinical and research appointments across multiple institutions.

Professor Carter's educational background includes a PhD from the University of Newcastle, a Graduate Certificate in Child Psychology from the Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Physicians, and a Bachelor of Medicine & Surgery from the University of New South Wales. His academic journey reflects a strong foundation in both medical practice and specialized psychiatric training.

His primary research interests focus on suicide prevention and related areas, including deliberate self-poisoning, epidemiology of suicidal behaviors, and brief contact interventions to reduce self-harm repetition. He has conducted significant research on delirium, toxicology of psychoactive drugs, post-stroke depression, organ donation considerations in mental health contexts, and psycho-oncology. Professor Carter maintains a continued interest in Tourette's Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in children and adolescents. His research consistently bridges clinical psychiatry with public health approaches to suicide prevention, demonstrating methodological diversity across epidemiological studies, clinical trials, and systematic reviews.

Professor Carter's recent publications reveal a strong focus on innovative suicide prevention interventions, particularly digital approaches like SMS-based brief contact interventions that demonstrated a 22% reduction in hospital-treated self-harm repetition. His work also extends to depression treatment research, including ketamine therapy for treatment-resistant depression, and psycho-oncology studies examining anxiety and nutritional outcomes in cancer patients. His research spans multiple methodological approaches with significant contributions to clinical guidelines, including the RANZCP Clinical Practice Guideline for Deliberate Self-Harm.

Professor Carter is an active member of numerous professional organizations including the RANZCP, ASPR (Australasian Society of Psychiatric Research), AACAP (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry), AAS (American Academy of Suicidology), IASR (International Association of Suicide Researchers), PoCoG (Psycho-Oncology Cooperative Research Group), and CINP (Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum).

Throughout his extensive career, Professor Carter has supervised numerous research students across multiple institutions, including Dr. Neil Port, Dr. Nick Bendit, Dr. Ivan Safranko, Gillian R. Maddock (who completed both Honors and Clinical Doctorate degrees under his supervision), and Tharraka Dassanayake. His teaching contributions span undergraduate medical education since 1981, postgraduate psychiatry training, psychology programs, and various educational initiatives for healthcare professionals including nurses, school counselors, and psychologists.

Professor Carter leads research initiatives through the Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research at the University of Newcastle, with particular focus on consultation-liaison psychiatry services at Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital. His work often involves multidisciplinary teams including psychologists, oncologists, surgeons, and other medical specialists, particularly in his psycho-oncology and somatic symptom disorder research. His leadership in developing screening protocols like QUICATOUCH for distress and pain in oncology outpatients demonstrates his commitment to translating research into clinical practice.