Conjoint Professor Gregory Carter

Conjoint Professor Greg Carter

What are your research interests?

I am interested in understanding what treatments work best at reducing the future risk of suicide attempts in various clinical populations. I have run large-scale intervention trials in populations of hospital-treated self-poisoning patients and Borderline Personality Disorder patients, as well as completing systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and meta-regressions of intervention trials, and developing Clinical Practice Guidelines.

I am also interested in treatment-resistant depression. I would like to identify effective treatments for this important clinical population; interventions that will bring about remission from the depressive illness and reduce the frequency of the commonly associated suicidal behaviours. I have recently completed a systematic review and meta-analysis of single low-dose ketamine trials for the treatment of depression; and I am member of a consortium funded to run a multicentre trial using low dose intranasal ketamine, as an intervention for treatment-resistant depression and associated suicidal ideation.

I am interested in reducing distress, depression and pain in ambulatory oncology patients attending outpatient oncology clinics. In collaboration with colleagues at the Calvary Mater Newcastle, we have developed a computerised system for screening and notifying treating clinicians of these problems. Over four years of implementation this process of screening and notification was associated with a sustained decrease in pain and distress.

Why did you get into research?

I have had many occurrences over my years as a clinician where I realised that the available literature did not adequately identify how best to treat a certain patient or group of patients. Most of the drive to do research for me was to produce better answers to the question, "what is the best treatment for this patient?"

What would be the ultimate goal for your research?

  • Reduce suicidal behaviours in various clinical populations. 
  • Reduce distress and depression in ambulatory oncology patients.
  • Develop a safe and effective treatment for patients with "treatment-resistant depression".

Biography

Professor Carter is the Senior Staff Specialist Psychiatrist and Acting Director of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry, Calvary Mater Newcastle, and Conjoint Professor in Psychiatry in the Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle. He is a clinician, teacher and researcher.

His areas of clinical and research interest include; deliberate self poisoning, suicide prevention, epidemiology of suicidal behaviours, attitudes to euthanasia, delirium, treatment -resistant depression, post-stroke depression, organ donation and psycho-oncology.

He is member of: the RANZCP (Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists), the ASPR (Australasian Society of Psychiatric Research), the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Strategic Planning Group (University of Washington),  the AAS (American Academy of Suicidology), the IASR (International Association of Suicide Researchers) and the Psycho-Oncology Cooperative Research Group (PoCoG), Australia. 

Specialised/Technical Skills

  • Extensive experience in running and evaluating large scale clinical trials with vulnerable patients (suicidal and depressed) aimed at reducing suicidal behavior and depression.
  • Interventional studies (RCTs) aimed at reduction of suicide attempts – Postcards from the EDge, Postcards in Persia and Hunter DBT Program: Dialectical Behavior Therapy.
  • Interventional studies (RCTs) aimed at prevention of post-stroke depression and improvement in nutrition and depression in head and neck oncology patients.
  • Service evaluation studies of hospital services for DSH (overdose) in Australia and the UK
  • Epidemiological studies of suicide and suicidal behavior in Australia 
  • Evaluation of the Australian National Youth Suicide Prevention Program
  • Developed and published Clinical Practice Guidelines for management of suicidal behaviour for professionals and consumers 
  • Depression screening in medical illness– instrument development and evaluation

Affiliations

  • Hunter Cancer Research Alliance (HCRA). 
  • NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Suicide Prevention (CRESP)