Rate My Professor Brad Carter

Brad Carter, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Biology Department at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He earned his B.A. in Biochemistry from Augustana College (Illinois) and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Carter joined the faculty at UW-Eau Claire in 2018 and has been promoted to Associate Professor. He teaches undergraduate courses including IDIS 125: Brain - Introduction to Neuroscience, BIOL 221: Foundations of Biology I, BIOL 223: Foundations of Biological Inquiry, and BIOL 358: Cellular and Developmental Neuroscience.

A molecular neuroscientist, Brad Carter investigates the impact of genetic and environmental factors on brain development using zebrafish as a model organism. His research specializations include developmental neurotoxicology, effects of environmental chemicals associated with autism spectrum disorders, gene-environment interactions employing CRISPR-Cas9 technology, cellular impacts of freshwater contaminants from Wisconsin and the Great Lakes region, and early life stress effects in collaboration with Mayo Clinic through the Regenerative Neuroscience Scholars Program. Carter mentors undergraduate students in these projects, securing NIH grants for research experiences, and promotes STEM undergraduate education and professional development. He serves on the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

Key publications by Carter include "Glucocorticoid treatment of astrocytes results in temporally dynamic transcriptome changes consistent with developmental disorders" (Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2012), "Acute and chronic glucocorticoid treatments regulate astrocyte activation differently" (Neurochemistry International, 2013), "Validation of Protein Knockout in Mutant Zebrafish Lines Using CRISPR/Cas9" (Zebrafish, 2017), "Insights from a Joint Virtual Undergraduate Neuroscience Curriculum Exchange" (Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education, 2022), and "Incorporating Primer Amplification Efficiencies in Quantitative Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction of Zebrafish Embryos" (Zebrafish, 2023).