William R. Smith, MD, PhD is a clinician-scientist with a background in psychiatric ethics and policy. He is currently a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. His research has spanned a variety of ethical issues in health policy with special emphasis on psychiatry, including psychiatric research ethics, informed consent, resource priority setting, and ethics of implementation of novel interventions, such as psychedelics. Currently, he is focused on developing strategies, including mobile health interventions and behavioral change strategies (e.g., incentivization and behavioral economics-based approaches) to improve transitions of care for those who have completed specialty care for first-episode psychosis, as substantial gains from these interventions are lost as patients transition to maintenance care in the community. He has over 20 publications (19 as first author) in venues including JAMA, Psychiatric Services, the Journal of Medical Ethics, and Bioethics among others. Clinically, he works at the PEACE Program of Horizon House, where he is an attending at a clinic for patients attempting transition out of first-episode specialty care.
Dr. Smith completed an MD at Emory University School of Medicine, a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, and a Fellowship in Bioethics at the National Institutions of Health.