Dr. Carolyn Smith has been appointed as the senior vice president and dean of research at Baylor College of Medicine, following approval by the Board of Trustees. She had been serving in this role on an interim basis since May 1.
“Dr. Smith is an excellent scientist and has been an outstanding interim leader of the research mission,” stated Dr. Paul Klotman, president, CEO, and executive dean at Baylor. “She has been a great mentor to faculty and trainees and will continue to advance the prominence of our research programs.”
Smith has held the position of dean at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences since 2019 and will maintain that role alongside her new responsibilities. In 2022, she was named vice president of education affairs. Additionally, she is a professor of molecular and cellular biology and a member of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Her research focuses on various areas including molecular pharmacology of estrogen receptors, gene expression regulation by transcriptional coactivators and corepressors, tamoxifen resistance in breast cancer, and steroid hormone action in urothelial carcinomas.
“It has been a privilege to have Baylor College of Medicine as my research home throughout my career," Smith expressed. "The collaborative research environment, excellent research resources, and talented faculty, staff, trainees, and students make this a wonderful place to engage in science discovery. I look forward to working with our basic, translational and clinical research communities to ensure the continued growth and impact of BCM research.”
Smith's academic contributions include publishing over 100 papers with funding from entities such as the National Institutes of Health for more than two decades. Her support also comes from organizations like the American Heart Association, Department of Defense, and National Space Biomedical Research Program.
She has participated in numerous study sections for institutions like NIH, Department of Defense, American Cancer Society’s Extramural Grants Council; she recently completed a term on the Board of Directors for the Endocrine Society.
Smith earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto followed by a Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario before completing her postdoctoral fellowship at Baylor where she joined its faculty in 1994.
