[2] Carr's research interests are primarily focused on developing and evaluating surgical technologies including joint replacement, arthroscopy and tissue engineering.
In 2008 he led the amalgamation of orthopaedics, rheumatology and musculoskeletal sciences to form a new department at Oxford University.
In 2011, the department incorporated the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology when it moved from Imperial College, London to the University of Oxford.
Carr was appointed founder Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit (BRU)[7] in Oxford in 2008 and, in 2011, became Divisional Director of the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre section of the newly formed Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.
His awards include the Robert Jones Gold medal of the British Orthopaedic Association and a Hunterian Professorship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.