Dr Allison Carter
PhD (Simon Fraser University), MPH (Simon Fraser University), BSc (University of British Columbia)
Dr. Allison (Allie) Carter is a Senior Lecturer and Group Leader of the Sexual Health and Reproductive Equity (SHARE) Research Group at the Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, an Associate of the Australian Human Rights Institute, and an Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada. Her research program aims to strengthen responses to gender, social justice, and sexual and reproductive health and rights. She has a strong interest in critical social theories and community-based research and her projects utilise a range of methods, including big data, surveys, and cohort studies, as well as qualitative and arts-based research methodologies. She is currently involved in a number of research collaborations in Australia and Canada with women living with HIV, young people with disability, migrant communities, and the broader population. Topics include HIV and STIs, HPV and cervical cancer, sexual behaviour, reproductive experiences, sexual pleasure, gender differences in sexuality, young people and sex education, gendered violence, and reproductive coercion. She has successfully led/co-led research attracting 17.7M and has authored more than 70 peer reviewed publications. She writes regularly about health, sexuality, and relationships for the general public and is available to provide expert opinion about sexual and reproductive health and rights for writers and producers of broadcast, print, and online media.
View Dr. Carter's publications and activities here: dralliecarter.com.
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
- Overcoming Inequity: Increasing Cervical Screening Participation for People with Intellectual Disability (CIRCE), NHMRC 2022-2025, Chief Investigator
- The Australian Collaboration for Coordinated Enhanced Sentinel Surveillance of Blood Borne Viruses and Sexually Transmissible Infections, Australian Government Department of Health 2019-2023, Chief Investigator
- The Third Australian Study of Health and Relationships (ASHR3), NHMRC 2019-2022, Associate Investigator
- Organising and Co-designing Holistic Immunisation services with students with Disability, Australian Government Department of Health 2020-2021, Lead Chief Investigator
- Sex in Translation: Understanding Concepts of Health and Relationships among Chinese People in Australia, Australian Government Department of Health 2019-2020, Lead Chief Investigator
- Positively Women: A Research Project Using Art to Understand What it Means to be a Women Living with HIV in Australia, Australian Government Department of Health 2019-2020, Lead Chief Investigator
- HIV Made Me Fabulous, Simon Fraser University and Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research 2020-2021, Chief Investigator
- Life And Love With HIV, Simon Fraser University and Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research 2018-2021, Chief Investigator
- The Canadian HIV Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study (CHIWOS), Canadian Institute for Health Research 2010-2020, Co-Investigator
- 2021, Early Career Award: Social, Political and Cultural Aspects of HIV and Sexual Reproductive Health in the Australasian Region - The Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine
- 2019, Emerging Investigator Award - The Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney
- 2015, Doctoral Research Award - The Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- 2014, New Investigator Award - The Canadian Association for HIV Research
Professional Association Memberships
- Associate, Australian Human Rights Institute
- Member, Women's Health Research Institute
- Affiliate Member, Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine
Select media
- HIV Made Me Fabulous unpacks link between social inequity and sexual health. The Peak. 14 February 2022.
- Grace Tame calls for better-funded sex education in schools. ABC Radio National Life Matters with Hilary Harper. 10 February 2022.
- How do we effectively teach sexual consent? UNSW Newsroom. 10 February 2022.
- Call for young children to be taught about consent ‘as young as possible.’ Herald Sun. 10 February 2022.
- ‘HIV Made Me Fabulous’ film relies on science and embodied storytelling to counter stigma and discrimination. The Conversation. 20 December 2021.
- 'Consent and wanting are not the same': Research reveals extent of unwanted sex while intoxicated. Sydney Morning Herald. 22 November 2020.
- Some women just go along with painful sex—and it’s time for a cultural shift. MGB Relationships. 1 October 2019.
- New online project promotes healthy sexuality for women with HIV. Vancouver is Awesome. 27 April 2018.
- Women with higher Internet use report increased body dissatisfaction. CBC. 20 February 2017.
My Research Supervision
- Azeem Travadi (MD student): Adolescent vaccination in students with disabilities.
- Jessica Murray (MSc student): Echoes of trauma in the lives of women living with HIV.
- Charity Mudhikwa (MPH student): Sexual health of women living with HIV.
Graduates
- Lisa Wojciechowski (PhD): Young + Positive: A national study of young people living with HIV.
- Erin Mowbray (MPH): Exploring the use of community-based art to reduce HIV stigma in Australia.
- Najihah Binte Salim (MD): Co-design of interventions to improve vaccine uptake among people with disabilities.
- Azra Bhanji (MPH): Engaging communities in storytelling: Life and Love with HIV.
- Zoe Osborne (MPH): HIV Made Me Fabulous: Film as a tool for knowledge dissemination.
- Olivia Burton (MPH): Systematic review: Education programs of sexual consent in young people.
- Michaela Pereira Bajard (MPH): Use of AIDS Service Organizations among women living with HIV.
My Teaching
I have developed courses in epidemiology and the social determinants of health and given a number of lectures in human sexuality. I welcome invitations to guest lecture on the intersections of HIV and gender, critical perspectives on sexual and reproductive health, and critical approaches in community-based research and arts-based knowledge translation.