Dr. Carter is originally from Knoxville, Tennessee, where she studied human osteology with Dr. William Bass, known for his research on decomposition of the human body to help crime investigations. Her graduate research at the University of Chicago was on chimpanzee skeletal pathology and stable isotopic bone chemistry of primates in Kibale National Park, Uganda. She first studied and taught human anatomy, histology, and embryology at Pritzker School of Medicine during graduate school. She also spent many years working in archaeology and was a Certified Human Osteologist in Illinois, where she worked on cemetery relocation projects and assisted with forensic cases. She taught anatomy and cadaveric dissection at numerous medical schools, prompting her to get her medical degree in 2012. In lieu of residency, Dr. Carter returned to academic medicine and taught anatomical sciences at the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine in Dothan for many years. Now at VCOM Auburn Campus, she continues to serve as a consultant on skeletal forensic cases through the Montgomery Medical Examiners Office, overseen by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. She is passionate about death and mortality in medical education and research.

Education

Education

My research interests focus on the mechanism in which exercise and/or chronic depression changes the immune function in context of asthma and cancer immunity. I am pursuing projects that have branched from initial findings in my lab: exercise (physical stressor) communicates with immune cells by the activation of the sympathetic autonomic nervous system (SNS). All immune cells express adrenergic receptors and can, therefore, respond to sympathetic nervous system (SNS) stimulation. Further, chronic mild depression (psychological stressor) has the capacity to affect adrenergic signaling resulting in its dysfunction of immune cells. Both stressors (physical and psychological) have been shown to affect cancer risk and/or progression (positively and negatively, respectively) although mechanisms of action remain unclear. Further, it will be important to define how these lifestyle factors may impact the newer generations of cancer immunotherapies.