Brenda J. Smith, PhD, MS

Brenda Smith, PhD, serves as the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology vice chair of basic and translational research. She earned a PhD in 1999 from Oklahoma State University (OSU) and completed post-doctoral training funded by NASA in 2001. Most recently, she was a regents professor and associate dean in the Graduate College at OSU.

The Smith Lab relocated to Indianapolis in 2022, when she joined the IU School of Medicine faculty. Her lab utilizes basic, translational and clinical approaches to understand how nutrition’s influence on the immune system impacts women’s health and aging. Much of the lab’s work has focused on studying certain types of bioactive components in foods that alter immune cells and their regulation of bone cells, including osteoblasts, osteoclasts and osteocytes. The lab has ongoing project investigating the use of prebiotics to counter alterations in the gut microbiome and mucosal immune system induced by changes in estrogen status.  As a trained clinical exercise physiologist, the Smith Lab is also interested in understanding how nutrition and exercise interventions can be combined to optimize musculoskeletal health outcomes.

Smith is the co-director of the Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health (ICMH), Musculoskeletal Health Sciences PhD program and co-leads the ICMH Lifestyle Modification Research Team. She has served on study sections and review panels for NIH, USDA and NASA.