Summary
Dr Rachel B. Smith is the Mohn Research Fellow in Population Child Health within the School of Public Health. She leads the Digital Environment theme in the Mohn Centre for Children’s Health and Wellbeing, and is an investigator in the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Environmental Exposures and Health.
Rachel is an epidemiologist with extensive experience in local, national and international health research projects and cohort studies spanning both environmental epidemiology and reproductive, perinatal, child and adolescent health research. This includes research on exposures to air pollution, noise and disinfection by-products during pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes; research into the impacts of wireless and digital technologies on reproductive health, and physical and mental health and cognition in both adolescent and adult populations (SCAMP and COSMOS cohort studies); and systematic reviewing/meta-analyses to provide up to date robust evidence to policymakers.
Rachel is involved in innovative community and young person engagement and involvement in both the White City community and the SCAMP cohort study, ensuring that young people’s voices influence research in the Mohn Centre.
Rachel has provided expert input to national and international advisory committees: the UK Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) and the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organisation Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR).
Rachel obtained her PhD from Imperial College London, which focused on exposure to water disinfection by-products during pregnancy in the Born in Bradford birth cohort. Her academic background covers both biological and social disciplines, with an undergraduate degree in Human Sciences (St John’s College, Oxford) and an MSc in Epidemiology (Imperial College London).
Key research areas:
- Children and young people's health
- Reproductive health
- Cohort studies
- Digital and Physical Environment in relation to human health
Publications
Journals
Traini E, Smith RB, Vermeulen R, et al., 2024, Headache in the international cohort study of mobile phone use and health (COSMOS) in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, Environmental Research, Vol:248, ISSN:0013-9351
Fussell J, Jauniaux E, Smith R, et al., 2024, Ambient air pollution and adverse birth outcomes: a review of underlying mechanisms, British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Vol:131, ISSN:0306-5456, Pages:538-550
Feychting M, Schüz J, Toledano MB, et al., 2024, Mobile phone use and brain tumour risk - COSMOS, a prospective cohort study., Environ Int, Vol:185
Shen C, Smith RB, Heller J, et al., 2024, Depression and anxiety in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to the use of digital technologies: longitudinal cohort study, Journal of Medical Internet Research, Vol:26, ISSN:1438-8871
Patjamontri S, Spiers A, Smith R, et al., 2023, Salivary androgens in adolescence and their value as a marker of puberty: results from the SCAMP cohort, Endocrine Connections, Vol:12, ISSN:2049-3614