Academic Focus
-Pediatric Epilepsy & Neurology
-Mental Health and Chronic Illness Comorbidities
-Self- and Family-Management
-Advanced Nursing Practice
-Education Interventions and Innovations
Gigi Smith is a Professor with Tenure and the Associate Provost for Education Innovation & Student Life at the Medical University of South Carolina. She received her Bachelor of Science Nursing degree from Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York, her Master of Science in Nursing degree in Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing from Columbia University in New York, New York, and her post-master’s certificate as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner as well as her PhD in Nursing from the Medical University of South Carolina.
Dr. Smith’s program of pediatric epilepsy research has focused on self- and family-management, caregiving, and behavioral health correlates. She is also interested in the epidemiological patterns, comorbidities, and health related outcomes of epilepsy. She was appointed to write a legislative report regarding access to comprehensive services for persons with epilepsy in SC. She provides consultation for epilepsy groups such as the SC Advocates for Epilepsy. At a national level she was a member of the Board of Directors of the American Epilepsy Society and co-chair of the first Centers for Disease Control Managing Epilepsy Well Network’s Pediatric Self-Management Workgroup. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Hartwick College.
In addition, Dr. Smith has focused on education interventions for health care providers regarding substance use such as the Impacting At-risk Populations through Multi-modal Training of Nursing and Medical Students in Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), a grant funded by SAMHSA, and opioid education and training with funding from the Duke Endowment. She has also obtained funding to build nursing education programs including the Blue Cross Blue Shield of SC grant Addressing Mental Health Needs in SC with Nurse Practitioners; and HRSA grants such as the Advanced Education Nursing Traineeship, Advanced Nursing Education Workforce, and Nurse Faculty Loan Program. She also founded the Charleston Student Health & Wellbeing Consortium in fall 2022 with the Citadel and College of Charleston to focus on what the three institutions are doing to promote student wellbeing.