Chief Forensic Pathologist, Marion County Coroner's Office, Indianapolis, Indiana

Joye M. Carter, M.D., is a triple board certified physician specialized in Forensic Pathology.  She received her undergraduate degree from Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio, in 1979 and is a 1983 graduate of Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, D.C.  Her post-graduate medical education in internal medicine and pathology was completed at Booth Memorial Hospital in New York, New York, and at Howard University Hospital.  Dr. Carter is a veteran of the United States Air Force.

Dr. Carter made history when she became the first graduate of Howard University to achieve board certification in Forensic Pathology.  In 1992, she became the Chief Medical Examiner of Washington, D.C., making her the first African-American female chief medical examiner in the United States.  During her time in Washington, Carter was a strong advocate for organ harvesting law changes. 

Once again making history, Carter became the first female to be appointed Chief Medical Examiner in the history of the state of Texas, serving as Chief Medical Examiner of Harris County (Houston) from 1996 until 2002.  She is currently the Chief Forensic Pathologist to the Coroner in Indianapolis, Indiana.

In 2002, Dr. Carter formed the first and only black-owned forensic consulting firm in the U.S.  She describes herself as a Christian physician and is fulfilling what she feels is her calling - to help others find their way through the maze of the criminal justice system and level the unequal field where she feels many become victims because of limited resources.

Dr. Carter has worked with people all over the world in need of ethical and neutral consulting in forensic pathology and death investigation.  She has had a chapter published in the Forensic Laboratory Handbook of Procedures and Practice (Humana Press, 2006) and is a reviewer for the Journal of the National Medical Association.

Dr. Carter has written two books, My Strength Comes from Within and I Speak for the Dead (Biblical Dogs, Houston, TX, 2001 and 2003), and is working on a third, Thank God, I was Not One of the Boys!  She has an online column through which she shares information of health and well-being and plans to syndicate the column sometime in the near future.

Dr. Carter has been featured in such noted magazines as Black Enterprise, Ebony, Healthquest and Der Spiegel as well as the American Medical Association magazine and newspapers such as the Washington Post, Washington Times, Houston Chronicle and the Richmond Times Dispatch.  She was featured in the book Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 41, in 2005 and has been a regular in periodicals such as Who's Who.

While her career has been centered around death, Carter has devoted much of her life to programs designed to prevent injury and loss of life.  She is the founder of Save Our Kids, a teen driving program in Houston.  She was also the first director of the Healthy People 2000 Anti-Violence campaign in Washington, D.C.  Dr. Carter delights in lecturing on forensics and participates in national mentoring programs.  Dr. Carter is a member of the Light of the World Christian Church in Indianapolis and is restoring a classic house. 

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