Being a professor at a university brings expectations beyond educating the student body. Among those are to research and publish the results of their studies. Unique to the field of public health, publications commonly stem from community-based interventions, survey research and disease surveillance initiatives, which have practical and applied applications to advance research, practice and policy issues.
Mathew Lee Smith, PhD, MPH, CHES, Texas A&M University School of Public Health associate professor, has published his share of studies in his 12 years as a faculty member. Earlier this year, Smith reached a major publishing milestone with the acceptance of his 300th manuscript for publication in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal.
Smith’s milestone paper, “Effectiveness of Chronic Disease Self-Management Education (CDSME) Programs to reduce loneliness,” published in Chronic Illness, looks at the prevalence of loneliness among middle-aged and older adults with chronic conditions and the ability of a six-week evidence-based program to decrease feelings of social isolation.
“This publication comes at a critical time when accessible, affordable and effective interventions are needed to mitigate the consequences of social disconnectedness within our aging population,” Smith said. “Because participation in CDSME programs significantly reduced loneliness, studies like these are important to identify the indirect or unintended benefits of interactive group-based programs originally designed for other purposes.”
The latest milestone comes less than 10 years after Smith had his 100th paper accepted for publication, and just five years after his 200th research paper was published.
“My number of publications, and speed in which they were published, is much less important than what they signify,” Smith said. “My publication record represents a history of funded projects to develop, implement and evaluate innovations and evidence-based solutions for diverse settings and audiences. It highlights my commitment to mentorship and advancing the next generation of public health scholars. Taken together, these articles are merely evidence of impactful initiatives that utilize collaborative team science to improve health and build resilient communities.”
As an evaluator and interventionist, Smith’s research interests surround health risk across the life-course and evidence-based solutions for older adults. He has devoted his career to creating synergistic partnerships and initiatives to encourage positive lifestyles and reduce rates of preventable morbidity and mortality. His translational research and evaluation experience bridge research and practice issues across the health care sector, aging services network, and public health system.
Smith is considered an expert in the field of healthy aging, having been the recipient of many national leadership, mentorship and research-based awards. In 2013 he was recognized for being a “Centenarian before Age 35,” by the American Public Health Association.