Daniel Smith, Chair of Psychiatry

My current research focus is on sleep and circadian science, and I’m also a Principal Investigator for two Wellcome Trust programme grants on bipolar disorder. I lead the interdisciplinary Hub for Metabolic Psychiatry as well as the UK Circadian Mental Health Network. I am also co-Director of the Chronobiology Task Force of the International Society for Bipolar Disorder, alongside serving as an honorary consultant psychiatrist with NHS Lothian, specialising in bipolar disorder.

It would definitely include research group meetings, usually some PhD student supervision meetings, and sometimes a bit of teaching. About once a week it involves clinical work. Then there's admin too of course.

I like all of it. I feel very lucky to have this job. I enjoy the challenge. I guess if you were to ask which part of research I like most, I'd say I like writing papers and grants.

My current focus is on two big areas. One is around circadian neuroscience and psychiatry, and the other is around the metabolic aspects of severe mental illness. Those are two relatively new and exciting areas for psychiatric research. The challenge now is how can we bring these together in the future. How can we study circadian aspects of metabolism and how that relates to symptoms, relapse and risk for psychiatric illness? So, there's a lot to be discovered there, which is exciting.

A key skill in science is writing clearly for a general audience. I think early in our careers we often feel the need to overcomplicate our writing, but as you get older, you realize that it's much more difficult to use simple language. That relates to another key skill, which is how to write a competitive grant application. I've learnt that from some key mentors of mine: how to clearly articulate the need for research, the approach that you're going to take and how you're going to deliver the impact.

Always be surrounded by people who are smarter than yourself.