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Tara C. Smith is an assistant professor of epidemiology in the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa, pro-science activist and posts regularly to her prominent science blog, "Aetiology."[1][2]

Professional background

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Smith has a B.S. in Biology from Yale University and a Ph.D. from the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo, Ohio in 2002.[2] Her doctoral work was in microbial pathogenesis and virulence factor regulation in Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus, the most common "flesh eating bacterium"). She did her post-doctoral training in molecular epidemiology at the University of Michigan.

Her current work centers on the hypervariable proteins in the group B streptococcus bacteria ( S. agalactiae), including also S. suis, influenza, adenovirus, and the ebola virus. In general Dr. Smith gravitates towards topics in microbial ecology, emerging diseases, zoonoses, and infectious causes of chronic disease.

Smith has substantial teaching experience, having taught classes at the University of Michigan, Lourdes College in Sylvania, Ohio, and the University of Toledo College of Medicine. Smith has published three popular books; "Ebola (Deadly Diseases and Epidemics)"[3] "Streptococcus (Group B) (Deadly Diseases and Epidemics),"[4] and Streptococcus (Group A)[5] Ebola (Deadly Diseases and Epidemics) was favorably reviewed by evolutionary ecologist and department editor Meghan Guinnee, PhD in The American Biology Teacher in 2006.[6] A book on science blogs that she contributed a chapter to was also favorably reviewed in Nature magazine.[7]

Activism

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Smith has been admirably fulfilling the "public health" component of her job by defending science and advocating for rational science-based approaches in different venues. Smith has been active in confronting creationists, intelligent design supporters and addressing the claims of AIDS denialists. Smith has also interacted extensively with the media, urging preparations for potential future global pandemics.

Smith is founder of the group "Iowa Citizens for Science". Iowa Citizens for Science has several dozen members and opposes the introduction of creationism or intelligent design into the public school science curricula.[8] She was inspired to do this after realizing Iowa did not have such a group, but observing that in Ohio, a similar group was resisting efforts of the Discovery Institute to insert intelligent design in the public school science curricula.

To get publicity for Iowa Citizens for Science, Smith helped arrange and promote the University of Iowa Freethinker's fall 2005 panel discussion entitled, "Intelligent Design: in your classroom?", on intelligent design. This panel discussion featured U of I faculty Scott Robinson, Evan Fales and Mark Blumberg exploring intelligent design with Iowa physicist and "Darwin Dissenter" Fred Skiff.[9]

When a candidate for Deputy Governor in Iowa in 2006, Bob Vander Plaats, advocated teaching intelligent design in public schools in Iowa, Smith and 25 other PhDs and other interested citizens wrote a letter to the editor of the Des Moines Register in association with the 2006 election which was published on October 23, 2006. The activities of Smith and her group were described by a columnist in the Des Moines Register on October 25, 2006.[10]

Smith and the Iowa Citizens for Science organized Darwin Day celebrations in Iowa City in February of 2007. Unfortunately these had to be cancelled at the last minute when a snowstorm did not allow the guest speaker Massimo Pigliucci to attend. Undeterred, Smith and her associates plan to stage a Darwin Day celebration in Iowa City in February of 2008.[11]

On St. Patrick's Day, March 17 2007, Smith, through the group "Iowans for Religion and Science Dialogue", helped to organize a symposium on "Religion and Science" held at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.[12] Numerous luminaries attended, including marine biologist Welsley Elsberry, Georgetown University theologian John Haught, Dover, Pennsylvania biology teacher Jennifer Miller and executive director of the Iowa Academy of Science[13] and Iowa television personality Craig Johnson.

In a similar vein, Smith circulated a petition to her colleagues at the University of Iowa rejecting intelligent design as science.[14][15][16] Smith was able to obtain 150 signatures from University of Iowa faculty on the statement.[17]

Smith's efforts to educate the public about the causes and treatment of AIDS have earned her animosity by the aids-denialists. Some even contacted her employer to complain that she was corrupting students with her stance that HIV caused AIDS.[18]

Aetiology

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Smith's blog "Aetiology", now hosted at Scienceblogs, discusses a variety of issues in biology, including the evolution-creation controversy. In addition, she is an occasional guest contributor at The Panda's Thumb.[2][19] Smith's blog, which was ranked seventh of all science blogs in a Nature magazine study,[20][21] has helped to garner media attention. She and her blog were featured in the Canadian student-produced science magazine Hypothesis,[22] Cell,[23] Medcape Today,[18] The Epidemiology Monitor Newsletter,[24] and even the New England Skeptical Society's "The Skeptics Guide"[25] and DailyKos.[26] Aetiology was described in WebMD's Medscape Today in 2006 as, "a star attraction on Seed Magazine's ScienceBlogs."[27]

Published Works

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Published Books

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  1. Streptococcus (group A) by Tara C Smith Type: Book + Internet Resource. Philadelphia : Chelsea House Publishers, 2004. ISBN 0791079015 held in 214 libraries a/c OCLC
  2. Ebola by Tara C Smith Type: Book + Internet Resource Publisher: Philadelphia : Chelsea House Publishers, ©2006. ISBN 0791085058 held in 227 libraries a/c OCLC
  3. Streptococcus (group B) by Tara C Smith Type: Book + Internet Resource. Publisher: New York : Chelsea House, ©2007. ISBN 9780791092439 [NOT YET PUBLISHED]

Book Chapters

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  1. Public health, defense, and what will *really* make us safer, T.C. Smith, In: Zivkovic, Bora, ed., The Open Laboratory: The Best Writing on Science Blogs. Chapel Hill, NC: Lulu, 2007.
  2. Epigenetics, T.C. Smith, Encyclopedia of Epidemiology. Sage publications, 2007. ISBN 9781412928168
  3. Chromosomes in Epidemiology, T.C. Smith, Encyclopedia of Epidemiology. Sage publications, 2007. ISBN 9781412928168

journal articles

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  • Smith TC, Roehl SM, Pillai P, Li S, Marrs CF, Foxman B (2006) Distribution of putative and established virulence genes in colonizing and invasive isolates of Streptococcus agalactiae, Epidemiology and Infection, 07Dec2006 PMID: 17156495
  • Smith TC, Smathers SA, Roehl SM, Marrs CF, Foxman B (2006) The surface protein (spb1) of group B streptococcus is not specific to serotype III-3 isolates, Journal of Medical Microbiology, Submitted
  • Smith TC, Novella S (2006) HIV denial in the internet age, PloS Medicine, Submitted
  • Smith TC, Sledjeski DD, Boyle MD., Selective biological pressure and expression of S. pyogenes genes: lessons from a mouse model of skin infection, Recent Research Developments in Microbiology, 2005
  • Smith TC, Sledjeski DD, Boyle MD, Streptococcus pyogenes infection in mouse skin leads to a time-dependent up-regulation of protein H expression, Infection and Immunity, 71(10), 6079-82, Oct 2003, cited 2 times
  • Smith TC, Sledjeski DD, Boyle MD, Regulation of protein H expression in M1 serotype isolates of Streptococcus pyogenes, Fems Microbiology Letters, 219(1), 9-15, Feb 2000, cited 5 times

References

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  1. ^ Smith "Epidemiologist Moves To New Site for Science Bloggers". EpiMonitor. Retrieved 2007-07-26. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  2. ^ a b c "The Crew of the [[Panda's Thumb (blog)|Panda's Thumb]]". The Panda's Thumb. Retrieved 2007-07-26. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  3. ^ Ebola (Deadly Diseases and Epidemics), Tara C. Smith, Chelsea House Publications, September 2005, ISBN 0791085058
  4. ^ Streptococcus (Group B) (Deadly Diseases and Epidemics), Tara C. Smith (Author), David Heymann (Foreword), I. Edward Alcamo (Editor), Chelsea House Publications, July 20, 2007, ISBN 0791092437
  5. ^ Streptococcus (Group A), Tara C. Smith, David Heymann (Foreword), I. Alcamo (Editor), Chelsea House Publishers, October 2004, ISBN 0791079015
  6. ^ [Book Review of "Ebola (Deadly Diseases and Epidemics)"], Meghan Guinnee, American Biology Teacher, Volume 68, Issue 8, pp. 508–510, October 2006
  7. ^ Review of The Open Laboratory: The Best Writing on Science Blogs 2006, Paul Stevenson, Nature magazine, 447, 779, 2007.
  8. ^ Iowa Citizens for Science, official homepage
  9. ^ God is to engineering what Michael Brown is to hurricane relief, Tara C. Smith, Aetiology, October 20, 2005.
  10. ^ Warning: Vander Plaats seeks to mix church, schools, Rekha Basu, Des Moines Register, October 25, 2006.
  11. ^ The 2nd Annual Iowa City Darwin Day Celebration ~~An International Recognition of Science & Humanity~~, February 15 & 16, 2008, Iowa City, Iowa.
  12. ^ Evolution and Intelligent Design Symposium: Defining Terms, Clarifying the Conflict, and Charting a Way Forward, Neumann Auditorium, Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa, March 16-17, 2007.
  13. ^ Iowa Academy of Sciences official webpage
  14. ^ ISU professor argues for intelligent design, William Dillon, Mid-Iowa News, Ames, Iowa,09/29/2005.
  15. ^ Statement on Intelligent Design From University of Iowa Faculty
  16. ^ Locals react to intelligent design ruling, William Dillon, Mid-Iowa News, Ames, Iowa, 12/21/2005
  17. ^ UI faculty sign on against intelligent design in science, William Dillon, Mid-Iowa News, Ames, Iowa, 11/16/2005
  18. ^ a b Defending Science in the Face of Controversy, Nicholas Genes, Pre-Rounds, MedScape Med Students, WebMD, July 10, 2007.
  19. ^ Bryant, Stephen (2006-04-13). "Pass the politics, please: Science blogs peppered with commentary". Online Journalism Review. Retrieved 2007-07-26. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  20. ^ 50 Popular Science Blogs (written by scientists), news@nature, Nature Magazine, July 3, 2006.
  21. ^ Aetiology was ranked number 7 of those dealing with science, out of the 46 million blogs considered in the study.
  22. ^ Who Benefits From Science Blogging?, Eva Amsen, Hypothesis, volume 4, number 2, October, 2006.
  23. ^ Analysis: Scientists Enter the Blogosphere, Laura Bonetta, Cell, Vol 129, 443-445, 04 May 2007.
  24. ^ University of Iowa Assistant Professor of Epidemiology Now A Part Of The Blogger Community, The Epidemiology Monitor Newsletter, June 2006.
  25. ^ Interview with Tara Smith, The Skeptics Guide, Number 28, February 1, 2006.
  26. ^ Science Friday: Guns, Germs, & the GOP, DarkSyde, DailyKos, Fri Feb 03, 2006.
  27. ^ Aetiology: A Blog in Search of Intelligent Science, Nicholas Genes, Pre-Rounds, Med Students, Medscape Today, WebMD, May 3, 2006.


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