Rate My Professor Kristen McCarter

Dr Kristen McCarter is a Senior Lecturer and clinical psychologist in the School of Psychological Sciences, School of Science, College of Engineering, Science and Environment at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy and a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) from the University of Newcastle. Her research specializes in improving health outcomes for priority populations through lifestyle interventions targeting preventable risks, with a focus on smoking cessation among individuals with severe mental illness and head and neck cancer patients. During her PhD, embedded in the NHMRC-funded Eating as Treatment (EAT) study—a randomized controlled trial led by Professor Amanda Baker—McCarter led a practice change intervention that enhanced implementation of best practice clinical guidelines for oncology dietitians across four Australian radiotherapy departments. She subsequently contributed to the TREAT pilot trial, funded by the Hunter Cancer Research Alliance and Agency for Clinical Innovation. From 2018 to 2021, she coordinated an NHMRC-funded Quitlink study evaluating a smoking cessation intervention using peer workers and tailored Quitline support with combination nicotine replacement therapy, achieving significantly higher quit rates published in the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.