Gregory J. Smith

Gregory J. Smith, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetics at the UNC School of Medicine. He specializes in environmental health and respiratory toxicology, focusing on inhalation exposure effects and genetic susceptibility. His work integrates toxicogenomics and mouse models to study ozone-induced health impacts. Dr. Smith holds a B.S. in Biochemistry (University of Vermont, 2011) and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (University of Connecticut, 2015). He completed postdoctoral training at UConn (2015–2016) and UNC Chapel Hill (2016–2021) under Dr. Samir Kelada.

His research interests include developing improved mouse models for studying ozone-induced asthma and understanding transcriptomic responses to environmental pollutants. Key projects involve comparing alveolar macrophage transcriptomes between mouse strains to identify genomic susceptibility factors. He received the UNC Junior Faculty Development Award (2023) for his project on ozone-induced asthma mechanisms.

Dr. Smith’s lab collaborates with colleagues in genetics and toxicology to advance preventive strategies and treatments for respiratory diseases linked to air pollutants. His recent work includes publishing in Environmental Health Perspectives and contributing to over 20 collaborative papers since 2021.