Tara C. Smith

Tara Smith joined the faculty of Kent State University College of Public Health after nine years in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Iowa College of Public Health, where she directed the college’s Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases and attained the rank of associate professor with tenure. She completed post-doctoral training in molecular epidemiology at the University of Michigan prior to beginning her professorship at the University of Iowa. She obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Toledo, investigating the pathogenesis of the Group A Streptococcus, and her B.S. in biology from Yale University. Smith’s research generally focuses on zoonotic infections (infections which are transferred between animals and humans). She was the first to identify livestock-associated strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the United States and has pioneered the investigation of this organism in the U.S. Smith has published more than 70 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters and presented her research at numerous national and international platforms, including talks on Capitol Hill on the topic of agriculture and antibiotic resistance. Smith is also very active in science communication and outreach. She has maintained a science blog for 12 years, and has written books on Group A Streptococcus, Group B Streptococcus, and Ebola, including Ebola’s Message (MIT Press). She also regularly writes on infectious diseases for various sites online and is a member of the advisory board of the Zombie Research Society. She lives in rural Ohio with her partner and her three children.