Jason Carter, Ph.D.
Dean of the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences
- Waco TX UNITED STATES
Active researcher focusing on neural control of the cardiovascular system in humans and the role of sleep in cardiovascular disease.
Media
Biography
Prior to his appointment at Baylor, Dean Carter served as Vice President for Research, Economic Development and Graduate Education at Montana State University (MSU), where he oversaw the University’s research enterprise, including sponsored programs, research compliance, research development, technology transfer and graduate school, in addition to serving as a professor in MSU’s Department of Health and Human Development. At MSU, Carter had key administrative accomplishments of three consecutive years of record research expenditures, including $193 million in fiscal year 2021, which contributed to MSU maintaining its Carnegie R1 designation. Before his time at MSU, Dean Carter served for 14 years as a faculty member, department chair, associate dean and associate vice president for research development at his alma mater Michigan Technological University (BS summa cum laude and PhD in Biological Sciences). There, he was the lead administrator to champion a $30 million state appropriation for a new health sciences and engineering building and the development of a satellite doctoral physical therapy program in partnership with Central Michigan University.
Dean Carter is an active researcher focusing on neural control of the cardiovascular system in humans and the role of sleep in cardiovascular disease. He has been the principal investigator or co-PI on more than $74 million in external research awards. This includes two active NIH R01 grants, as well as a recently secured $63 million partnership to expand collaborative translational health research between the University of Washington and Montana State University.
Areas of Expertise
Accomplishments
Jerry R. Thomas Distinguished Leadership Award
American Kinesiology Association
2021
Fellow
National Academy of Kinesiology
2017
Education
Michigan Technological University
B.S.
Biological Sciences
2000
Michigan Technological University
Ph.D.
Biological Sciences
2003
Affiliations
- American Kinesiology Association : Past President
- American Physiological Society
Media Appearances
Jason Carter: How Baylor’s Robbins College Equips Healthcare Leaders
Baylor Connections Podcast online
2025-12-16
As healthcare needs and opportunities grow, Baylor’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences is responding with innovative approaches to prepare compassionate leaders for the field. Dean Jason Carter shares Robbins Colleges distinctives like interprofessional education, hybrid graduate programs, elite research and cutting-edge technology, highlighting the ways Baylor shapes graduates who serve patients and communities with integrity and excellence.
Baylor to offer hybrid therapy, online leadership master’s degrees
Baylor Lariat online
2025-08-25
Dr. Jason Carter, dean of the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, said interest in graduate study has been steadily increasing among Child and Family Studies students.
“A large proportion of our Child and Family Studies students end up going on to graduate school,” Carter said. “We started to look around and the faculty came up with the idea of proposing the Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy.”
Binge drinking increases heart rate, blood pressure, according to Robbins College study
Baylor Lariat online
2024-09-05
A report of the study was published by National Institute of Health on Aug. 9. Dr. Jason Carter, dean of the Robbins College, was in charge of designing the study, securing sponsorship funding and overall data analysis.
[...]
“We monitored their sleep all night, and then in the morning, we tested their nervous system at rest and during some lab stressors,” Carter said.
Research Grants
Social Connectedness and Health in the Blackfeet Community: An Investigation of Biopsychosocial Mediators”
National Institutes of Health – Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
2021-2025
Influence of upper airway stimulation on blood pressure and sympathetic nerve activity in adults with obstructive sleep apnea
Inspire Investigator Initiated Research Program
2024-2025
Arctic acclimatization and sleep optimization research laboratory (ARKTOS)
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
2024-2026
Articles
Social connectedness and sleep in Blackfeet American Indian adults
Sleep Health2025
Objectives
A growing body of work documents a link between indices of social connectedness and sleep health. Sleep is implicated in the chronic health conditions which disproportionately affect American Indian adults, however the relationship between social connectedness and sleep health is largely understudied in this population. The current project investigates relationships between multiple indices of social connectedness and sleep health in a sample of American Indian adults.
Longitudinal assessment of objective sleep and power output in Division I collegiate baseball athletes
Sleep Health2025
Objectives
Many college athletes experience insufficient sleep due to athletic, academic, and social constraints. While prior studies have observed cross-sectional associations between poor sleep and performance in athletes, few studies have longitudinally assessed performance variations in relation to sleep measures. We investigated whether objectively measured sleep assessments were associated with peak power output improvements during a fall season of Division I collegiate baseball players.
Distal skin temperature is reduced in individuals with trait vulnerability to stress-related sleep disturbance
American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology2025
Vulnerability to sleep disturbance following stress (i.e., sleep reactivity) is associated with incident insomnia, though the underlying physiological mechanisms remain unknown. We examined skin temperature stress responsiveness in individuals with high (HSR) versus low (LSR) sleep reactivity. We hypothesized that individuals with HSR would exhibit exaggerated reductions in distal skin temperature during stress. Twenty-eight adults with LSR (5 M/9 F; age: 21 ± 4 yr; BMI: 24 ± 4 kg/m2) and HSR (5 M/9 F; age: 22 ± 4 yr; BMI: 23 ± 3 kg/m2) participated after completing the Ford Insomnia Response to Stress Test (FIRST). Participants wore a water-perfused suit, which was continuously circulated with 34°C water and covered proximal body regions.
Progress on incorporating sex as a biological variable in cardiovascular research
American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology2025
In January 2023, the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology implemented a pioneering policy for cardiovascular research requiring authors to consider sex as a biological variable (SABV) in their experimental design, analysis, and reporting. This policy goal was to enhance the rigor, reproducibility, and applicability of cardiovascular research by ensuring that more than one sex or gender was adequately represented in studies published by the journal. As we reflect on the progress made since we instituted this policy 2 years ago, it is evident that the cardiovascular research community has embraced this change with enthusiasm and commitment. The policy editorial, published in November 2021, was downloaded over 5,000 times and cited more than 60 times (1).
Sympathetic neural and cardiovascular responsiveness to involuntary stress-induced crying
Journal of Applied Physiology2025
Acute and chronic emotional distress are associated with an elevated risk of adverse cardiovascular events in humans. However, our understanding of how complex emotional states impact autonomic and cardiovascular regulation in humans remains limited. The purpose of the present case study was to characterize muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and peripheral hemodynamic responses to an involuntary mental stress-related lacrimation (i.e., crying) in a healthy, young female participant (age: 22 yr; BMI: 27 kg/m2). Continuous heart rate (HR; electrocardiogram), beat-to-beat blood pressure (finger plethysmography), and MSNA (microneurography) were monitored during a 3-min resting baseline and subsequent mental arithmetic task during which an unanticipated and involuntary crying was observed after 1 min of the stress task.