Helen Smith

Biography

Prof Helen Smith graduated in medicine from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom (UK) and later trained in epidemiology and health services research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and at the University of British Columbia. She has dual accreditations in General Practice and Public Health Medicine and has experience of working in academic, hospital and general practice settings, both in the UK and Canada. She has been the founding professor of General Practice in two medical schools; Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, UK and Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

As one of the leading exponents of Primary Care Research Networks, she has made major contributions to primary care internationally. She has developed initiatives to expand research capacity in the specialty and through rigorous trials, strengthened the care family physicians provide to their patients. The Primary Care Research Network she established in the south of England was the first of its kind and was cited as an example of good practice in the Department of Health’s Strategic Review of Primary Care. Subsequently, similar research networks were replicated throughout the UK. She was foundation chair of the UK Federation of Primary Care Networks and also co-founded the International Federation, an organisation under the umbrella of World Organisation of Family Doctors (WONCA). Her expertise on the development of academic family medicine and building of research capacity has been sought by many countries.

Research and scholarship

Throughout her career, her research has focused on the evaluation of novel ways of delivering health services and ‘new technologies’ within primary care. Her research expertise is in the design of randomised controlled trials and mixed method (qualitative and quantitative) evaluation. Her current research is focusing on pharmacogenomics, allergy and lifestyle change in people who are pre-diabetic. Whilst working in Asia she has promoted the involvement of patients and the public in research, and developed culturally sensitive approaches.

Teaching

Professor Smith’s current teaching is focused on health services research methods to undergraduate and postgraduates. She particularly enjoys introducing undergraduates to research in a non-laboratory setting and supervising Master’s and PhD students.

Further information

Professor Smith has over 270 peer reviewed publications with an h-index >70.
Her paper SMITH H, DAWES M, KATZOV-ECKERT H, BURRELL S, SAM XH, WINTHER DM Improving prescribing: A feasibility study of pharmacogenetic testing with clinical decision support in the Primary Health Care in Singapore. Family Practice (DOI:10.1093/fampra/cmac124) was selected as the Best Paper of 2022 by Family Practice Editor in Chief.