Thanks for visiting my website! My name is Melissa Smith, and I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. My statistical research interests are in the areas of Bayesian statistics, disease mapping, spatial statistics, and mediation analysis. I also enjoy collaborating with researchers across disciplines on studies in public health and medicine.

I completed my PhD in Biostatistics at the University of Iowa. My dissertation research focused on statistical methods for spatio-temporal modeling of cancer risk. I was awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, which supported my research and graduate education. Prior to graduate school, I received my Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Colorado College and worked at a start-up company that focused on developing machine learning algorithms for sepsis prediction.

In my free time, I enjoy rock climbing, hiking, and spending time with my husband, Brendan, and our pets, Arabelle (dog) and Chewbecky (rabbit).