Dr. Carolyn L Smith is Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Urology at Baylor College of Medicine, holds the William R Brinkley BRASS Chair, and is Senior Vice President and Dean of Research, Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and Vice President for Education Affairs. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a BSc degree in Biochemistry and received her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Western Ontario where she studied plasma transport proteins for steroids, primarily corticosteroid binding globulin. For her postdoctoral training at Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Smith investigated cell signaling pathways and their cross talk with sex steroid receptors, primarily estrogen receptors. As a faculty member at Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Smith’s work on coactivators and corepressors for estrogen receptors lead to the elucidation of the molecular mechanism of action for selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) such as tamoxifen. Subsequent studies on the molecular pharmacology of estrogen receptors, using basic and translational approaches, yielded seminal insights into mechanisms of tamoxifen resistance in breast cancer and the tissue selective estrogenic activities of estrogens and SERMs in the context of bone health and hormone replacement therapies. She has published over 100 papers, and been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, Department of Defense, and the National Space Biomedical Research Program. Dr. Smith’s interest in translational research and training PhD students lead to the development of one of the first PhD programs in Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine in 2005, and creating environments and high quality programs in which trainees can pursue their basic, translational and clinical research goals remains one of her passions. She has been an invited instructor in the Frontiers in Reproduction course at Woods Hole, served on numerous NIH and ACS study sections, and been a member of the American Cancer Society Council for Extramural Grants. Education, mentorship and professional development opportunities for students, trainees and faculty in endocrine science and clinical practice is crucial to developing and sustaining the field of endocrinology, and Dr. Smith has served as the Chair of the Scientific and Educational Programs Core Committee, a member of the Annual Meeting Steering Committee (2010-2013), Basic Science Chair for ENDO 2017 and as Chair of the Annual Meeting Steering Committee for ENDO 2020. Dr. Smith has a deep commitment to advancing the Endocrine Society’s mission to unite, lead, and grow the endocrine community, and she has been honored to serve as a member of the ENDO Task Force (2015-2016), Endocrine Society Strategic Plan 4 Task Force (2016-2017), Governance Task Force (2018-2019), the Society’s Board of Directors (2021-2024) and as chair of the Net Revenue Task Force (2024). 
