Dr Stephanie Smith is a senior research specialist with a varied 15-year career spanning academic, voluntary sector, and frontline healthcare roles.
Stephanie has taught quantitative research methods, epidemiology, and statistics at postgraduate level, worked closely with UK health policy experts to bridge the research-policy-practice gap, and supported vulnerable young adults in an NHS community mental health service. She played a key role in the setup of a landmark school-based cohort study of adolescent mental health in inner-city London – the REACH study, investigating risk and protective factors for mental health among young people from diverse backgrounds. Stephanie has also coordinated several Patient and Public Engagement and Involvement (PPIE) initiatives, including for the Children and Families Policy Research Unit (CPRU) at University College London (UCL).
At CEI, Stephanie manages a portfolio of projects across evidence syntheses, evaluation, and implementation science, including an innovative multi-site trial focusing on the feasibility of involving multiple youth organisations in a rigorous impact evaluation.
Stephanie has a PhD in Health Services and Population Research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, where she was funded by an interdisciplinary social science scholarship from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). She also holds an MSc in Psychiatric Research from the IoPPN.
