Hadley Stevens Smith

Dr. Hadley Stevens Smith is a health economist and a researcher of the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of genomics. She studies clinical, patient-centered, and economic outcomes of genomic medicine, primarily for newborn and pediatric patient populations. The goal of her research program is to inform efficient and ethical implementation of genomic technologies into clinical care. 

Dr. Smith uses both qualitative and quantitative research methods. She has expertise in survey-based research on preferences and patient-centered outcomes as well as electronic health record-based research and cost-effectiveness analysis. Much of her work has focused on development and application of tools to measure the utility of genomic sequencing and assessment of family-level impacts of genetic conditions and genomic medicine interventions on health care utilization, costs, and well-being. In addition to methodological issues, she is interested in normative aspects of value assessment and payer decision-making. She is a Member of the HMS Center for Bioethics and Associated Personnel at Boston Children’s Hospital and Ariadne Labs.

Dr. Smith received a K99/R00 career development award from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) to study the family-level utility of pediatric genomic sequencing using a patient-centered approach and decision science methods. She is the Project Director of the Precision Medicine Policy and Treatment (PreEMPT) model and a co-Investigator on the BabySeq Project, two NIH-funded research efforts that evaluate the impacts of newborn genomic sequencing. Additionally, she serves as a Section Editor for Economics and Precision Medicine at Genetics in Medicine.  

Dr. Smith completed a BS in Political Science with a minor in Genetics at Texas A&M University. She received a Master of Public Service and Administration with a concentration in Health Policy Analysis from the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. She earned her PhD in Public Health (Health Economics track) at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. After completing her PhD, Dr. Smith was a Health Policy Fellow in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine where she contributed to several high-profile NIH-funded genomics research efforts, including the Clinical Sequencing Evidence Generating Research Consortium (CSER).