Dr. Smith has over 30 years of experience caring for children with special health care needs. She serves as Associate Director for Administration at the University of Southern California (USC) University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) at Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). Her current clinical activities include nurse care manager of the Boone Fetter Clinic for children with autism and related neurodevelopmental disabilities, co-director of the Spina Bifida Center, and co-director of the Rett Clinic at CHLA. Dr. Smith leads the policy concentration in the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) training program at USC UCEDD, focusing on child health related issues. She co-teaches a graduate course in the School of Public Health at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Children with Special Health Care Needs: A Systems Perspective and teaches child health related courses in the Masters of Public Health Program at USC. Dr. Smith's research interests include the areas of spina bifida, transition, autism, and Rett syndrome. She has directed local and state-wide projects to improve care for children with special health care needs and their families. Dr. Smith has served as the project director of a multi site Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grant aimed at identifying factors that influence bowel and bladder continence in school age children with spina bifida, and is currently the Principal Investigator for Children's Hospital Los Angeles in a CDC Spina Bifida Registry grant that aims to collect ongoing data from sites around the country in order to establish a treatment and research database.
Current Roles
• Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, 2006-present
• Assistant Clinical Professor, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Nursing, Los Angeles, CA, 1986-present
• Senior Site Coordinator, Children's Hospital Los Angeles Autism Treatment Network Site, 2011- present
• Co-Director, Spina Bifida Center, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 2009- present
• Director, Rett Clinic, USC University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 2008-present
• Nurse Care Manager, Boone Fetter Clinic, Institute for the Developing Mind, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 2007-present
• Associate Director, USC University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 2006-present
• Consultant, UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities, Los Angeles, CA, Early Developmental Screening and Intervention Initiative, 2005-present
• Continuing Education Coordinator, UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities, Los Angeles, CA, Maternal and Child Health Training Program, 2004-present
• Associate Nursing Director, USC University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (formerly the University Affiliated Program) at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 2004-present
• Staff, Public Health Foundation, City of Industry, CA, Los Angeles Partnership for Special Need Children, 2000-present
Education
• DrPH, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
• MN, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
• BS, Nursing, California State University, Long Beach, CA
Areas of Interest
• Spina bifida
• Autism and related disorders
• Health policy
• Rett syndrome
• Quality improvement
• Training
