Christopher J. Smith, Ph.D.

Chief Science Officer

Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center

Dr. Christopher J. Smith is an experimental psychologist with expertise in measuring the components of complex psychiatric disorders for research purposes. He was formerly the assistant director of Family Studies at the Seaver Autism Research Center, and an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Chris and his family moved to Phoenix in 2007 specifically to oversee the research at the Southwest Autism Research Center. Under his direction, he and the staff at SARRC have authored more than 150 publications and presentations and have been granted funding from National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, Organization for Autism Research, and multiple local funding organizations. In addition, SARRC have forged productive collaborations with leading researchers at the Marcus Autism Center, UCSD, Mayo Clinic, ASU, and global pharmaceutical companies. SARRC research focuses on improving early detection of autism and investigating the safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical and behavioral interventions.