Matthew Lee Smith, PhD, MPH, CHES, FAAHB
Department of Health Promotion and Behavior
College of Public Health
The University of Georgia
Research Interests and Accomplishments
Dr. Smith has established expertise in survey research methodology, measurement, and evaluation pertaining to an array of public health issues facing the rapidly growing aging population. These skills enable him to investigate lifestyle and socio-ecological impacts on health risk behaviors with a specific emphasis on evidence-based programming for older adults. Dr. Smith’s research and evaluation foci surround the reach, adoption, implementation, effectiveness, and maintenance of evidence-based programs for older adults. His ability to form and cultivate interdisciplinary collaborations affords him opportunities to apply his translational research and evaluation experience to bridge research and practice issues among the healthcare sector, aging services network, and public health system. Although Dr. Smith has evaluated numerous evidence-based programs, his particular expertise is within fall prevention and chronic disease self-management. He has been involved in many local, state, and national evaluation initiatives funded by agencies including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Administration on Aging (AoA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Generally, these efforts examine the feasibility of delivering evidence-based programs in diverse settings as well as their implementation with fidelity, health impact, scalability and sustainability. His evaluation experience associated with the Evidence-Based Program (EBP) movement in the United States illustrates his development of a sustainable line of research in the field of aging.
Dr. Smith is currently a PI an NIH-funded R01 to translate Stanford University’s Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) for use in the workplace and a large CDC-funded grant to embed multi-state, multi-level fall prevention interventions including Otago, Stepping On, and Tai Chi: Moving for Better Balance as well as the STEADI Tool Kit for healthcare professionals. Dr. Smith has over 160 peer-reviewed publications, received over 15 research-based awards, and has delivered over 215 professional conference presentations. In addition to being an Assistant Professor in The University of Georgia College of Public Health, he is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Public Health.
Quote from Dr. Smith
“This recognition is truly an honor. I consider AAHB to be my professional home because of its composition of high-quality scholars, alignment with my interests in behavioral interventions and evaluation, and avid role in advancing the profession. Receiving the JKB Award was an important benchmark in my professional development in that it highlighted my status as an emerging scholar, which was revered by my colleagues external to the Academy.”
