Jodi M. Smith, MD, MPH

This year she will also be going to outreach clinics in Alaska. Her research focuses on viral complications in solid organ transplantation – both those with clinical manifestations and more occult infections associated with allograft dysfunction. Results of a major prospective study report her findings that subclinical CMV and EBV infections are associated with decreased long-term renal allograft function in pediatric renal transplant recipients. Her ongoing research focuses on mechanisms of virus-induced allograft dysfunction. Dr. Smith’s research has a translational link, as it takes advantage of novel clinical diagnostics to survey for viruses (her primary K23 mentor was Dr. Corey, Head of the Virology Division in the UW Department of Laboratory Medicine) and donor-specific antibodies using solid-phase assays (with Dr. Karen Nelson of the Puget Sound Blood Center). Her research has also been funded by grants from the National Kidney Foundation, the American Society of Transplantation and Roche. Dr. Smith is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health and has been actively involved in mentoring all of the pediatric nephrology trainees in the clinical research pathway.