Mary Lindsey Smith

Dr. Smith is the Director of Substance Use Research & Evaluation (SURE) and a Senior Research Associate at the University of Southern Maine’s Catherine Cutler Institute, where she is responsible for designing and implementing health services research and evaluation projects related to addressing substance use disorder. Most of her research and evaluation work has focused on macro-level issues and has been designed to help systems reduce illness burden as well as healthcare utilization and costs. She has extensive research and clinical expertise in the area of substance use and behavioral health disorders which has been the primary focus of her research agenda for over two decades.

Dr. Smith specializes in mixed-methods research and has experience designing and implementing evaluation, research, as well as technical assistance projects at the local, state, and federal levels and has worked on projects funded by the National Institute of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, Veterans Administration, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Human Resources & Services Administration, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the National Institute of Justice.

Dr. Smith holds master’s (2004) and doctorate (2009) degrees in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh. She also received additional clinical experience and health research training during her Post-Doctoral Fellowships at the VA Pittsburgh Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC) and the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP).