NASHVILLE, Tenn. ― Mary Lou Smith, Ph.D., C.Psych., will begin a term as a member-at-large of the Nominating Committee of the American Epilepsy Society (AES) at the conclusion of the Society’s annual meeting in Nashville, Dec. 2-6, 2022. A medical and scientific society of 4,700 members, the AES is dedicated to advancing research and education for preventing, treating, and curing epilepsy.
The Nominating Committee oversees the annual call for nominations for officers and board of AES, evaluates nominees, and selects a slate of candidates to put forward to the membership. Dr. Smith is professor emerita in the Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, and a senior associate scientist in the Neurosciences and Mental Health Program of the Research Institute at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. She has been conducting clinical work and research with both adults and children with epilepsy and has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles. Her research program currently addresses the long-term cognitive and psychosocial outcomes of epilepsy surgery in childhood, and the key psychosocial, family, cognitive, and neurological variables that determine quality of life in children with epilepsy.
Dr. Smith is active in advocacy, education, and professional service within the field of epilepsy. She has participated in committees and task forces for the International League Against Epilepsy, the American Epilepsy Society, and the Canadian League Against Epilepsy. At present, she is chair of the International League Against Epilepsy Neuropsychology Task Force and a member of the Pediatric Psychiatry and Pediatric Epilepsy Severity Scale Task Forces. She is on the board of directors of the Canadian League Against Epilepsy and is a member of the executive committee of the Canadian Pediatric Epilepsy Network. In addition to giving numerous research-oriented talks, she has participated in national and international teaching efforts on clinical neuropsychology in the care of people with epilepsy, including the Canadian Epilepsy Teaching Network, the ILAE International Training Courses on Neuropsychology in Epilepsy and the International Child Neurology Teaching Network.