Richard Smith received his doctorate in chemistry from Cardiff University where he collaborated with ESSO on identifying contaminants in refined oil products using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS), liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC/MS) and other mass spectrometric techniques. He then joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a visiting fellow where his research focussed on metabolite identification using mass spectrometry.
Richard Smith has extensive academic experience in mass spectrometry as well as in industry (pharmaceutical and mass spectrometry). He has more than 60 scientific publications and presentations in journals and conferences. He is a reviewer for the Journal of Mass Spectrometry. Currently a member of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry and the Canadian Society for Mass Spectrometry.