About Dr. Smith
Christopher (Chris) M. Smith, PhD, MSN, RN, GCQM is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Smith earned his PhD from East Carolina University, where his research was shaped by resilience and adaptability, and defined by a commitment to quantitative rigor. Though his early work focused on relationships between behavioral sleep and cardiometabolic outcomes, clinic restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic forced Dr. Smith to pivot his study.
Subsequently, Dr. Smith shifted his dissertation to instrument development to cultivate his interest in psychometrics and latent variable modeling techniques (Smith et al., 2024a, 2024b). Using the unexpected clinic restriction as a fortuitous opportunity to further develop his methodological skills, Dr. Smith earned a post-graduate certificate in Quantitative Methods for Social and Behavioral Sciences from ECU’s Department of Psychology under the supervision of Drs. Alex Schoemann and Mark Bowler. Dr. Smith’s methodological skills support his biobehavioral approach to studying cardiometabolic science.
Educational Background
- PhD, 2022, East Carolina University
- Post-Master Certificate, 2021, ECU Dept of Psychology
- MSN, 2018, Appalachian State University
- BSN, 2016, Appalachian State University
- ADN, 2001, Wayne Community College
Research Interest
Dr. Smith’s primary research focus is cardiometabolic health in rural populations with specific interest in metabolic and inflammatory mechanisms that drive cardiovascular outcomes. Specifically, his research explores cardiometabolic biomarkers, inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and broad omics approaches (with focused interests in metabolomics and lipidomics) to better understand the mechanisms and pathways that influence cardiometabolic health. Within this framework, Dr. Smith is particularly interested in developing biobehavioral models to detect cardiometabolic dysfunction and predict cardiometabolic disease in younger populations before irreversible and long-term health impacts occur. His research emphasizes functional lifestyle strategies that support the cardiometabolic health pillars – nutrition, sleep hygiene, physical activity, and psychological wellness – which serve as critical targets for preventing and managing disease. Dr. Smith is especially interested in interventional strategies including low-insulinogenic nutritional models, resistance training for mitochondrial density, pre-sleep optimization, and mindfulness and contemplative meditative practices. Broadly, Dr. Smith’s research emphasizes functional non-pharmacological strategies to prevent and detect illness, manage disease progression, promote person-centered care, and advance health equity and healthcare access to improve cardiometabolic health outcomes.
Dr. Smith’s research interest expands to the long-term impact of childhood abuse trauma on cardiometabolic health and how classical serotonergic psychedelics, including LSD, psilocybin (“magic mushrooms”), DMT, and mescaline may be leveraged to facilitate trauma processing. This approach constitutes a novel method for indirectly addressing unhealthy behaviors that stem from the residual effects of childhood abuse trauma and is aimed at improving cardiometabolic health outcomes.
Methodological Interests
Dr. Smith’s methodological interests are primarily quantitative, multivariate, based in the regression tradition, and include psychometrics, structural equation modeling, latent variable modeling, linear mixed models, hierarchical models, and mediation/moderation/conditional processes. He also appreciates mixed methods and has experience with qualitative methodologies including interpretive description and phenomenology as well as systematic review methods.
Collaboration
Dr. Smith is currently seeking collaborators.
Dr. Smith is passionate about interdisciplinary approaches to research and works well with others. He has been awarded an Academy of Medical Sciences grant, American Heart Association Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing travel grant, and two Sigma Theta Tau research grants to support his research. Dr. Smith has disseminated his research via publications and conference presentations, including the 2025 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions Conference where he presented work on how metabolic pathways differ in Black adults with heart failure with and without diabetes via moderated digital presentation.
Spare Time
Dr. Smith’s extracurricular interests include scientific writing and studying logic, philosophy (including Hellenistic varieties, Humeanism, skepticism, and causal determinism), Hatha yoga, nondual contemplative meditative philosophies (Buddhist: Dzogchen, Vipassana, Zen and Hindu: Advaita Vedanta, sādhanās, respectively), psychonautics, spirituality, and the evolution of human consciousness. Dr. Smith is active in the psychedelic science community and passionate about legislative reform aimed at re/descheduling classical psychedelics (LSD, psilocybin, mescaline & DMT), as well as harm reduction strategies, education, and safe use of psychedelics as pathways toward holotropism and psychological and spiritual wellness.