Dr. Tracy Smith conducts tobacco regulatory science, which is science that aims to provide FDA and other regulatory bodies with information about how best to regulate tobacco with the goal of improving public health. The focus of Dr. Smith's research is regulations that might move people away from combustible tobacco products, which are responsible for the vast majority of the harms from tobacco. One line of Dr. Smith’s current research focuses on regulations that reduce the addictiveness or appeal of combustible cigarettes, including reducing nicotine to nonaddictive levels or banning menthol from cigarettes. Another line of Dr. Smith's research focuses on non-cigarette tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, which are less harmful to health than combustible cigarettes. Dr. Smith has a number of studies assessing whether e-cigarettes can serve as substitutes for combustible cigarettes among people who smoke.
Dr. Smith has published more than 65 peer-reviewed papers, and received funding from the National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Food and Drug Administration. She currently serves as PI or MPI on 4 R01 clinical trials. In 2020, she received the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco Jarvik-Russell Early Career Award for outstanding contributions to the field of nicotine and tobacco early in her career.
Dr. Smith is a South Carolina native and earned her undergraduate degree from the College of Charleston. When she is not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband and kids and enjoying beautiful Charleston.