Dr. Martha A. Smith

MAJ Martha A. Smith, EdD, RD
SP, USA

In her role as the Chief; Education, Training and Research, Madigan Healthcare System, Dr. Smith serves as both the Site Coordinator for the US Military Dietetic Internship Consortium and the Research Director for the US Military-Baylor University Graduate Program in Nutrition (GPN). As a direct accession officer, MAJ Smith obtained a Doctorate in Education and came into the US Army in 2008, and has directly supported GPN research efforts and students research for the past 4 years. MAJ Smith quickly established herself as the research expert at Madigan by obtaining the 8Z skill identifier for medical research, serving as the Chair for Madigan's Institutional Review Board, reviewing submitted protocols for the Western Region, executing four research protocols as principal investigator and participating in 1 research study as an Associate Investigator. Since 2008, MAJ Smith has one published article, two abstracts, and has been selected for five platform presentations. Additionally, MAJ Smith is the first Army dietitian to obtain the 8H skill identifier (Clinical Investigation and Regulatory Oversight) for her duties demonstrated with the Institutional Review Board at Madigan. In her role as the Madigan Research Director, MAJ Smith has mentored 7 GPN students through their master's research projects during her tenure at Madigan and one of her students won the GPN Research Award demonstrating excellence in research in 2011. As Principal Investigator of a three year study assessing the impact of Ranger School on body composition, bone mineral density, and physical performance, she established relationships with US Army Ranger Regiment AMSC officers and civilian researchers and collaborated with the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine to further evaluate endocrine, metabolic and inflammatory markers in 164 Ranger volunteers. MAJ Smith also established collaborative research partnerships within the Madigan Healthcare System to foster research initiatives with other healthcare professionals, provide guidance and mentoring, and promote GPN student research studies. Although leaving Madigan in June 2012 to work as the Chief, Nutrition Care Division with the 121 MEDDAC in Seoul, Korea MAJ Smith will be coordinating research efforts with the GPN graduates for oral presentations at professional conferences and manuscript publications.