David Smith's Biography

David Smith, Principal Scientist, AstraZeneca R&D

Dave Smith is a principal scientist working in the Open Innovation team and heads up Target Innovation, which aims to bring new targets into AstraZeneca by sharing compounds and resources. He received a PhD at the National Heart & Lung Institute in 1986 and held various positions in academia including senior lecturer at Imperial College, London until 2001 when he joined the AstraZeneca cardiovascular group at Alderley Park. He moved to the cardiovascular group in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2012 and returned to the UK in Cambridge in 2015. He specialises in diabetes and obesity but is now working across the whole Astrazeneca portfolio. He is a member of the British Pharmacological Society and has served as an editorial advisor for the Biochemical Journal and British Journal of Pharmacology. He has consulted for the UK MRC and Ministry of Health.