Simon Carter is a sociologist working at The Open University with interests in Science and Technology Studies, health and medicine and science engagement. He originally was a research chemist working in the automotive industry and then in environmental protection. But after studying at The Open University, his career took a different direction when he returned to full time higher education to complete a PhD at Lancaster University. After this, Simon mainly specialised in the sociology of health and illness, and medical sociology.

Simon has conducted research into: the cultural turn towards the sun and sunlight in early twentieth-century Europe; critical approaches to the public understanding of science as applied to health issues; how biosecurity interfaces with other concerns in our globalised world; and, more recently, the impact of wearables and digital technologies on health.