Brent R Carr, M.D.

Brent R. Carr, M.D. is an Associate Professor in the University of Florida Department of Psychiatry and a clinical leader in interventional and procedural psychiatry and neuropsychiatry. He serves as Interim Director of the Neuromodulation Program, overseeing the department’s integrated clinical services in Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), and psychiatric Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). He is also Chief of ECT Services and Neuromodulation Fellowship Training Director, with an emphasis on rigorous care pathways for treatment-resistant depression and obsessive–compulsive spectrum illness.

Dr. Carr’s clinical and scholarly work focuses on neuromodulation optimization, symptom-domain targeting, and maintenance strategies, with attention to pragmatic outcomes in real-world practice. He collaborates across psychiatry, neurology, neurosurgery, and anesthesia to advance the safe implementation of high-intensity psychiatric interventions. His research and academic writing extend beyond technical parameters to examine the conceptual and ethical foundations of treatment—how psychiatric “response,” “failure,” agency, and risk are defined, communicated, and operationalized in modern care.

In parallel with clinical innovation, Dr. Carr maintains an active scholarly interest in psychiatric ethics and the medical humanities, with publications examining therapeutic presence, empathy, vulnerability, and decision-making under constraint. He is also deeply committed to education and mentorship and serves as Associate Director of the Psychiatry Clerkship (MS3), supporting learners through clinical training, supervision, and collaborative scholarship.

My research integrates interventional psychiatry, neuropsychiatry, and the ethics of psychiatric treatment. I contribute to national efforts—such as the GenECT initiative and NNDC ketamine consensus work—that aim to identify biomarkers and clarify therapeutic boundaries in treatment-resistant depression. I also collaborate with neuromodulation developers on programming strategies for deep brain stimulation, including methods that support adaptive and responsive stimulation approaches.

In parallel with technical development, my work examines how psychiatric interventions are defined, evaluated, and justified—particularly how clinicians conceptualize response, nonresponse, agency, and risk in high-intensity care. Drawing on philosophy of psychiatry and neuroethics, I aim to strengthen the conceptual rigor and ethical clarity of psychiatric treatment, supporting more transparent decision-making and more precise, patient-centered outcomes.