Tara C. Smith
American epidemiologist and science communicator
For other people with similar names, see
Tara Smith .
Tara C. Smith is an American epidemiologist and science communicator. She is a professor at the Kent State University College of Public Health who studies zoonotic infections . Smith was the first to identify strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus associated with livestock in the United States.
Early life and education
Smith has a Bachelor of Science in biology from Yale University .[ 1] [ 2] She earned her PhD in microbiology at the University of Toledo , where she investigated Streptococcus pyogenes .[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] She completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Michigan.[ 2]
Career
In 2004 Smith joined the University of Iowa College of Public Health .[ 4] She has received over $3 million in research funding, primarily from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality , United States Department of Agriculture and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health .[ 4] [ 5]
Smith identified that 45% of pig farmers and 49% of hogs farmers carried Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).[ 6] [ 7] [ 8] She went on to identify that almost 40% of people with MRSA contain the strain associated with livestock.[ 9] [ 10] The work was described as one of the most comprehensive investigations into the spread of MRSA by the journal Nature .[ 11] She is distinguishing the Staphylococcus aureus strains around Iowa City , by characterizing the DNA around several places in the genome.[ 11] She compared strains related to ST398, a sequence type that is associated with livestock but not expected to cause infection, from around the world.[ 12] She found that meat that is sold with the claim it contains no antibiotics contains the highest levels of the garden-type of S. aureus .[ 13] Her research has been covered by The New York Times .[ 6] Smith has also studied and written about vaccine hesitancy .[ 14]
She joined the Kent State University College of Public Health in 2013 as an associate professor.[ 4] [ 14] In 2015 Smith was appointed an American Society for Microbiology Distinguished Lecturer.[ 15] In 2017 she became a full professor at Kent State.[ 14] Her light-hearted Christmas contribution[ 16] to the British Medical Journal on the likelihood of a Zombie apocalypse was covered extensively in the mainstream media.[ 17] [ 18] [ 19] [ 20] [ 21] [ 22] [ 23] [ 24] [ 25] [excessive citations ] Following the Zika virus outbreak , Smith wrote several articles to provide advice for members of the public.[ 26] [ 27] She went on to use zombies to demonstrate how diseases were spread.[ 28] [ 29] [ 30] Smith has written books on Ebola virus , Streptococcus pyogenes and S. agalactiae .[ 31] [ 32] [ 33] [ 34]
In late February 2020 the Wall Street Journal called her "a prominent infectious-disease specialist" when reporting on her tweet[ 35] criticizing the White House's attempt to control messaging about the novel coronavirus outbreak .[ 36]
Public engagement
Smith takes part in several initiatives to improve the public understanding of science.[ 37] She writes a regular column for Self .[ 2] She started the science blog Aetiology in 2005.[ 38] Her research has appeared in the popular science books Pig Tales: An Omnivore's Quest for Sustainable Meat and Superbug: the Fatal Menace of MRSA. [ 39] [ 40] She has featured on podcasts, including Science for the People, Talk Nerdy and the Meet the Microbiologist podcast of the American Society for Microbiology .[ 41] [ 42] [ 43] [ 44] She has been interviewed by Gizmodo , New Statesman and the Los Angeles Times .[ 45] [ 46] [ 47]
Bibliography
Ebola's Message (2016), co-edited by Maia Majumder and Nicholas Evans[ 2] [ 48]
Ebola and Marburg Viruses (2010)[ 49]
Streptococcus (group A) (2010)[ 50]
Streptococcus (group B) (2007)[ 51]
Personal life
Smith lives with her partner and three children in rural Ohio.[ 2]
References
^ a b "186: Dr. Tara Smith: Resistance on the Rise: Researcing the Arms Race of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria and Potential Transfers from Livestock to Humans - People Behind the Science Podcast" . www.peoplebehindthescience.com . 28 November 2014. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ a b c d e f "Tara C. Smith, Ph.D. Latest Articles" . SELF . Archived from the original on 2020-12-29. Retrieved 2020-02-28 .
^ "Speakers | The Eagleson Institute" . www.eagleson.org . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ a b c "Tara C. Smith, Ph.D. | Kent State University" . www.kent.edu . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "Grants and Projects" . Tara C. Smith, PhD . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ a b Kristof, Nicholas (12 March 2009). "Opinion | Our Pigs, Our Food, Our Health" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ Mole, Beth (8 May 2015). "Pig farm workers at greater risk for drug-resistant staph" . Science News . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "Hog farmers more likely to carry drug-resistant bacteria, study says" . Fox News . 4 May 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ Bittman, Mark (9 July 2013). "Breeding Bacteria on Factory Farms" . Opinionator . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ Smith, Tara C.; Gebreyes, Wondwossen A.; Abley, Melanie J.; Harper, Abby L.; Forshey, Brett M.; Male, Michael J.; Martin, H. Wayne; Molla, Bayleyegn Z.; Sreevatsan, Srinand (2013). "Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in pigs and farm workers on conventional and antibiotic-free swine farms in the USA" . PLOS ONE . 8 (5): e63704. Bibcode :2013PLoSO...863704S . doi :10.1371/journal.pone.0063704 . ISSN 1932-6203 . PMC 3646818 . PMID 23667659 .
^ a b Mole, Beth (24 July 2013). "MRSA: Farming up trouble" . Nature . 499 (7459): 398–400. Bibcode :2013Natur.499..398M . doi :10.1038/499398a . ISSN 0028-0836 . PMID 23887415 .
^ Price, Lance B.; Stegger, Marc; Hasman, Henrik; Aziz, Maliha; Larsen, Jesper; Andersen, Paal Skytt; Pearson, Talima; Waters, Andrew E.; Foster, Jeffrey T. (1 March 2012). "Staphylococcus aureus CC398: Host Adaptation and Emergence of Methicillin Resistance in Livestock" . mBio . 3 (1): e00305–11. doi :10.1128/mBio.00305-11 . ISSN 2150-7511 . PMC 3280451 . PMID 22354957 .
^ "Concerns growing over superbugs in our food" . msnbc.com . 15 July 2009. Archived from the original on January 25, 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ a b c ORCID. "Tara C. Smith (0000-0003-3747-1116)" . orcid.org . Archived from the original on 2020-12-29. Retrieved 2020-02-28 .
^ "American Society for Microbiology Distinguished Lecturers: 1992 - Present" (PDF) . American Society for Microbiology . Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ Smith, Tara C. (2015-12-14). "Zombie infections: epidemiology, treatment, and prevention" . BMJ . 351 : h6423. doi :10.1136/bmj.h6423 . ISSN 1756-1833 . PMID 26668070 . S2CID 28216574 . Archived from the original on 2020-12-29. Retrieved 2020-02-28 .
^ "Zombie epidemics are a 'looming threat', science journal warns" . Metro . 16 December 2015. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "British Medical Journal Releases Study Revealing How To Stop A Zombie Virus Outbreak" . IFLScience . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "PODCAST: Dr. Tara Smith Joins Houston's Morning News | KTRH" . KTRH . Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "More Research Needed to Prevent 'Zombie Apocalypse' " . Newsweek . 17 December 2015. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ Liotta, Paul. "The British Medical Journal publishes report on the risk of a zombie outbreak - NY Daily News" . nydailynews.com . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "Zombie apocalypse study makes top scientific journal" . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "Suis-je en train de me transformer en zombie? Le British Medical Journal répond" . RTBF Info (in French). 15 December 2015. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ Martin, Sean (14 December 2015). "Are we prepared for the Zombie apocalypse? Experts call for more preventative action" . International Business Times UK . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "Apocalypse now: Zombies as teachers" . ASU Now: Access, Excellence, Impact . 21 April 2016. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "UPDATE: Zika and Pregnancy - What You Need To Know | The Scientific Parent" . The Scientific Parent . 21 March 2016. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "Scientists Get Closer to a Zika Vaccine" . 28 June 2016. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "Zombies go academic as Kent State University prof explains how infectious diseases spread" . cleveland.com . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "Why are scientists so obsessed with studying zombies?" . Popular Science . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ Winternitz, Abigail. "Zombie outbreak infiltrates health professor's lesson plan" . KentWired.com . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ Smith, Associate Professor Tara C.; Heymann, David (1 August 2007). Ph.D, Edward I. Alcamo (ed.). Streptococcus . New York: Chelsea House Publications. ISBN 9780791092439 .
^ results, search; Heymann, David (1 June 2010). Streptococcus (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Chelsea House Pub. ISBN 9781604132519 .
^ results, search; Heymann, David L. (1 November 2010). Hilary, M. D. Babcock (ed.). Ebola and Marburg Virus (2nd ed.). New York: Chelsea House Pub. ISBN 9781604132526 .
^ "Ebola's Message" . The MIT Press . Retrieved 27 July 2018 .
^ Smith, Dr Tara C. (27 February 2020). "Not good at all. I understand government workers often have to go through layers of approval, but 1) this is an urgent situation and 2) they know way more than Pence" . @aetiology . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020 .
^ Armour, Stephanie; Restuccia, Andrew (27 February 2020). "White House Wants Signoff on Coronavirus Messaging" . Wall Street Journal . ISSN 0099-9660 . Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020 .
^ "Michigan Tech hosts zombies symposium - ABC 10/CW 5" . ABC 10/CW 5 . 31 October 2014. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "Aetiology – Infections, public health, zombies, and other stuff" . aetiologyblog.com . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2018 .
^ results, search (4 May 2015). Pig Tales: An Omnivore's Quest for Sustainable Meat (1st ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 9780393240245 .
^ "SuperBug - Maryn McKenna" . Maryn McKenna . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ Wolf, Julie. "MRSA in agriculture and zombie epidemiology with Tara C. Smith - MTM 67" . Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "Episode 181 - Tara Smith" . Talk Nerdy . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "What Can I Do? - Voices For Vaccines" . Voices For Vaccines . 14 September 2017. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "#438 - Big Chicken: Science for the People" . www.scienceforthepeople.ca . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ "Zombie studies: The scientists taking the living dead seriously" . www.newstatesman.com . 3 August 2017. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ Greene, Sean (18 December 2015). "What zombies can teach us about infectious diseases" . Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ Paoletta, Rae. "Reminder: Wave Pools Are Filthy Pits of Despair" . Gizmodo . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018 .
^ Evans, Nicholas; Smith, Tara C.; Majumder, Maimuna S. (2016). Ebola's message : public health and medicine in the twenty-first century . Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-33619-2 . OCLC 960448151 .
^ Smith, Tara C., 1976- (2011). Ebola and Marburg viruses (2nd ed.). New York: Chelsea House. ISBN 978-1-4381-3577-9 . OCLC 698105724 . {{cite book }}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link ) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link )
^ Smith, Tara C.; Babcock, Hilary (2010). Streptococcus (group A) (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Chelsea House. ISBN 978-1-4381-3288-4 . OCLC 650088855 .
^ Smith, Tara C. (2007). Streptococcus (group B) . New York: Chelsea House. ISBN 978-0-7910-9243-9 . OCLC 84900446 .
External links
International National Academics Other