Dr. Eric Smith

Dr. Eric Smith

MD, MPH

Positions

Professor

Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Clinical Neurosciences

Full Member

Hotchkiss Brain Institute

Contact information

Phone number

Office: +1 (403) 944-1594

Background

Educational Background

B.S. Biochemistry, McGill University, 1993

Doctor of Medicine Medicine, McGill University, 1998

Master of Public Health Clinical Medicine, Harvard University, 2005

Biography

Dr. Eric Smith is Professor of Neurology, Radiology, and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary, and the holder of the endowed Katthy Taylor Chair in Vascular Dementia. He is the Medical Director of the Cognitive Neurosciences Clinic and a member of the Calgary Stroke Program. He directs the Clinical and Research Fellowship program in Cognitive Neurosciences. Dr. Smith graduated from McGill University, trained in Neurology in teaching hospitals of Harvard Medical School, and was Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard University before being recruited to Calgary in 2008. He Co-Chairs the Canadian Stroke Best Practices Advisory Committee of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Canadian Consensus Conference on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementia. Dr. Smith’s research team investigates how cerebral small vessel diseases cause cognitive impairment and dementia.

Research

Areas of Research

Dementia & Cognitive Disorders
Movement Disorders
Stroke
Activities

I investigate vascular contributions to age-related cognitive decline and dementia, including stroke and stroke outcomes. I study people from the general population as well as patients with clinical cognitive disorders and cerebral amyloid angiopathy, a vascular disease caused by beta-amyloid. My research is funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and Brain Canada, as well as other sources. In collaboration with a team of vascular specialists in the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging, including both basic scientists and clinical researchers, I am identifying new ways of treating people with cerebral small vessel diseases and testing them in clinical trials.

Awards

  • Member, College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, Royal Society of Canada. 2016
  • Killam Emerging Research Leader Award (CIHR), University of Calgary. 2015
  • Katthy Taylor Chair in Vascular Dementia, University of Calgary. 2012
  • Robert G. Siekert New Investigator Award, American Heart Association. 2010
  • Fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA), 2008
  • Holmes Gold Medal, McGill Faculty of Medicine, 1998

Publications