Dr. Smith is a behavioral pharmacologist and a senior scientist in the NIH-sponsored Anticonvulsant Drug Development (ADD) Program, where she is responsible for the management and new model development for the analgesia core of the program. In hopes of better understanding the comorbidities of epilepsy and their underlying mechanisms, Dr. Smith has incorporated a battery of non-epilepsy, preclinical behavioral models that have been proven successful clinically by identifying molecules with antidepressant, analgesic or anti-manic activity. Her research quantitatively evaluates the therapeutic potential of investigational compounds in both acute and chronic models. Dr. Smith's behavioral profiling differentiates an investigational compound's analgesic profile and its activity in various comorbidities of epilepsy and thus complements the anticonvulsant data compiled by the ADD Program. The identification of novel compounds with broad or unique spectrums of therapeutic activity may help to better clarify the etiology of the comorbidities and the most effective targets for their treatment. Additional related research interests include the role of neuropeptides and steroid hormones in epilepsy and its comorbidities and the sex differences associated with some of these neurological conditions.
