Carter researches the intersections of medicine and religion in the modern Middle East.

In his dissertation, he moves beyond dominant narratives of medical modernization and colonization by recasting the rise of modern hospital care in the Middle East through longer traditions of religious healing, institutional charity, and imperial patronage. The project examines how medical practitioners and patients reconciled the ethics of modern medicine with religious commitments, and how European and North American medical missions reshaped healthcare systems, particularly in Ottoman and Mandate Palestine.

His research has been supported by the Fulbright Program, the Azrieli Foundation, the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, and the American Historical Association (AHA). In 2026, his work was awarded the 2026 Richard H. Shryock Medal from the American Association for the History of Medicine (AAHM).

Carter holds a BA in History and Arabic from Baylor University and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. He joined the doctoral program in the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University in 2022. Since 2025, he has served as the managing editor of the Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies (JMEWS).