Education

Dr. Cater attended medical school at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Following his residency training, Dr. Cater joined UT Southwestern as a Clinical Nutrition Research Fellow in the Center for Human Nutrition and a clinical fellow in the Division of Endocrinology of the Department of Internal Medicine. After his fellowship, Dr. Cater joined the faculty of the Department of Clinical Nutrition as an Instructor. Later he became a Clinical Nutrition Research Scholar and transferred to the Department of Internal Medicine.

Research Accomplishments

During his fellowship training in the Center for Human Nutrition Dr. Cater investigated the effects of different forms of saturated fatty acids on serum cholesterol levels. He made the important observation that an medium-chain length fatty acids (C8:0 and C10:) raise the serum LDL cholesterol level. This finding was contrary to earlier impressions that medium-chain, saturated fatty acids do no increase LDL cholesterol. The finding is important because it rules out the possibility that medium-chain saturates can replace other saturated fatty acids in diets designed to lower LDL-cholesterol levels. After Dr. Cater became a Clinical Nutrition Research Scholar his attention turned to the exiting new area of plant stanols. The latter are derivatives of sitosterol and have been shown to reduce serum LDL-cholesterol levels by inhibiting the absorption of cholesterol. Dr. Cater has obtained grants to study the effects of plant stanols in several different types of patients. He also had played a major role in professional education of the potential utility of plant stanols as dietary adjuncts for LDL reduction. He further participated in an important study showing how plant stanols can augment the cholesterol-lowering of dietary therapy in patients receiving statin therapy.  Dr. Cater has emerged as an authority on the role of plant stanols for the treatment of elevated LDL cholesterol.

In addition, Dr. Cater participates in all of the clinical research projects being carried out in the VA Medical Center. These projects include a variety of studies on pharmacological agents affecting serum lipid disorders. Dr. Cater further is a national spokesman for the Center for Human Nutrition in several areas of nutrition, particularly in the areas of functional foods and nutraceuticals. Dr. Cater's research focuses on the dietary and pharmacological management of dyslipidemia. He conducts metabolic ward feeding studies and outpatient diet and drug studies. He also participates in multicenter diet and drug trials. Dr. Cater is particularly interested in the role of dietary adjuncts, such as functional foods and nutraceuticals, in the management of moderate hypercholesterolemia and in their potential utility in augmenting the cholesterol-lowering effect of diet in patients already on statin therapy. The models for this are foods fortified with plant stanol ester. Dr. Cater is active on both the national and international levels in further investigating the role of plant stanol ester in both the clinical and public health approaches to controlling cholesterol levels.

Professional Societies, Awards, and Achievements

Dr. Cater is a member of the American Medical Association.