Dr. Smalley is Professor of Psychiatry and Founding Director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. She received her bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Anthropology at UCLA. She completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in Medical Genetics and Childhood Psychopathology at UCLA, as well, and is a founding member of the College of Medical Genetics.
As a behavior geneticist, Dr. Smalley spent 20 years researching the genetic influences of human behavior, conducting gene-mapping studies in autism spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Supported through NIMH grants, her lab is a leading research unit in the genetics of ADHD, having conducted some of the first genome-wide studies in this condition. She has more than 80 scholarly publications covering topics of behavioral genetics including statistical methodology, refinement of behavioral phenotypes, genetic research in autism and ADHD, and, more recently, mind-body medicine and its role in education and health.
With the shifting emphasis on prevention and health enhancement afforded, in part, by the genomic era of the 21st century, Dr. Smalley founded the Mindful Awareness Research Center (www.marc.ucla.edu). It is dedicated to increasing self-awareness through mind-body practices (such as meditation) as a means of enhancing health and well-being and promoting a more compassionate society. She is a weekly contributor to the Huffington Post and is co-writing a book, “Fully Present: The Practical Art and Science of Mindfulness” (DaCapo Publishers).
