Dr Smith joined St George’s in September 2010 to support and conduct research within three programmes of research – Social and Community Mental Health, Mental and Physical Health, and Mental Health and Wellbeing of Vulnerable Communities.

Prior to this, Dr Smith was awarded a doctoral fund by the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (NZ$90000), and in 2004, gained his PhD in psychology at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. His PhD study investigated the ability of people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) to learn new cognitive and motor skills, and the circumstances in which people with PD are likely to encounter difficulties with tasks assumed to contain an implicit learning component.

Dr Smith moved to the UK in 2005 where he was a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences at the University of Reading, working on a three-year multidisciplinary project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The study examined the extent to which demonstrated perceptual and cognitive impairments contribute to difficulties with patients’ motor control in the real world, and assess how effectively Parkinsonian medications alleviate these difficulties.

In 2009, Dr Smith embarked on a research fellow post at Pain Services in Guy’s and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. The role focused on the development and implementation of systems to assess the long-term effectiveness of a range of interventional and non-interventional techniques (from surgery to residential pain management programmes based on cognitive behavioural principles) to help alleviate chronic pain and improve patients’ quality of life.

In his current role Dr Smith continues to work closely with colleagues in the field of pain management, including clinicians at Sickle Cell Services of St George’s Heathcare NHS Trust and Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences department at King’s College London. Dr Smith also provides methodological and statistical input to mental health research teams preparing research bids and papers for publication within St George’s Heathcare NHS Trust and South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.

Dr Jared Smith is a Senior Research Fellow in statistics with an extensive background of postgraduate, postdoctoral, and industry research in the fields of mental health science and neuropsychology, including research intended to provide evidence-based healthcare for clinical populations in the form of effective treatments and service delivery.

Dr Smith presently collaborates with a variety of clinical researchers, most often within St George's Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, South West London & St George’s (SWLSTG) Mental Health NHS Trust and King’s College London (Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences), providing scientific leadership and statistical and methodological input into a range of projects and research programmes, including systematic reviews/meta-analyses, clinical trials and quasi-experimental studies (e.g., interrupted time series).

Dr Smith’s current/recent projects involve investigating: Feasibility of eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy for functional neurological disorder, Feasibility of acceptance and commitment therapy for functional cognitive disorders; The effect of psychiatric decision unit services on inpatient admissions and mental health presentations in UK emergency departments; the benefits of pain management approaches for people with sickle cell disease; The impact of orofacial pain on sleep and associated pain behaviours; and The impact of Covid-19 on the number of emergency referrals and number of referrals of individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders in child and adolescent mental health services. His primary role in this research is to advise on study/trial design and the statistics used, administer statistical analyses and lead or assist with write-up of study results for publication.

2022-2025 Co-Investigator: NIHR Research for Patient Benefit NIHR (Ref: NIHR202277; £248,795). Randomised feasibility study of eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy for functional neurological disorder.

2022-2024 Co-Investigator: NIHR Research for Patient Benefit (Ref: NIHR202743; £244,464). Acceptance and commitment therapy for functional cognitive disorders - feasibility study.

2019-2021 Co-Investigator: NIHR Health Services and Delivery Research Programme (Ref: NIHR (HS&DR) 17/49/70; £460,000): Project title: Evaluating Mental Health Decision Units in acute care pathways (DECISION): A quasi-experimental and health economic evaluation.

2016-2018 Co-Investigator: NHS England (£181,000): Project title: Present and future care needs of young people currently placed in forensic secure, other secure and psychiatric intensive care hospital beds, Secure Children’s Homes, Secure Training Centres and Young Offender Institutions in England.

2014-2016 Co-Investigator: Grunenthal (£10000); Awards 2014. Project title: Developing a dedicated website for patients with orofacial pain: facilitating education for patients and clinicians, online express referrals and clinical research with development of artificial intelligence online diagnostics.

2013-2014 Principal Investigator: South West London Academic, Health and Social Care System (£8941); Application for Small Grants Fund 2013. Project title: Piloting a specialised Sickle Cell Pain Management Service: a mixed-methods study.

2012-2013 Principal Investigator: Section of Mental Health, St George’s, University of London (£16770); Pilot Research Funding Competition. Project title: Cognitive function and pain management in patients with chronic pain: A pilot study.

• The Trigeminal Foundation – Trigeminal nerve injuries; Their cause and management

• DECISION - Evaluating Mental Health Decision Units in acute care pathways

• MODIFI - Randomised feasibility study of Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy for Functional Neurological Disorder

• ACT4FND - Acceptance and Commitment therapy for Functional Cognitive Disorders - feasibility study

Collaborations

Professor Steve Gillard (School of Health Sciences, City, University of London)

Dr Robert Lawrence (Research & Development, South West London & St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust)

Professor Tara Renton (King's College London Dental Institute)

Professor John Harris (University of Reading)

Rebecca McLoughlin (Red Cell Pain Management Service, St George’s Hospital)

Dr Claire Copland (The Phoenix Centre, St George's Hospital)

Undergraduate

Dr Jared Smith is a dissertation supervisor for the intercalated BSc/Biomedical Science course and lectures MBBS Medicine students on the psychology of pain and BioMedicine students on the psychophysiology of cardiovascular disease and neuropsychology.

Postgraduate

Dr Smith has supervised PhD candidates, delivered MRes Mental Health quantitative research lectures and supervised students completing MSc Forensic dissertations.