Dr. Smith has established strategic University of Michigan cross-discipline collaborations to study neurodegenerative diseases, muscular dystrophies and cardiomyopathies. Such collaborations will facilitate and hasten discoveries and lead to treatments and cures in the near future.

In collaboration with laboratories in Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering, Dr. Smith’s laboratory investigates the importance of hESC derivation and growth environment on subsequent cell function and clinical utility.