Dr. Ryan C. Smith is a Transportation Specialist in the Office of Research and Engineering at the National Transportation Safety Board. In this capacity, he serves as a technical expert in the domains of drug impairment, health, human performance, and statistical analysis. Dr. Smith’s primary responsibilities are to conduct safety research studies, support crash investigations, and provide technical assistance within his areas of expertise. He was a study manager for NTSB’s recent safety research report on Alcohol, Other Drug, and Multiple Drug Use among Drivers.
Dr. Smith joined the NTSB in 2019 as a project manager and senior accident investigator in the NTSB’s Office of Highway Safety. Prior to joining the NTSB, he was a Research Scientist at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and founding group leader of the Impaired Driving Research, Evaluation, and Analysis group. This included leading a diverse team of faculty and over $5M of research that spanned the topics of impaired driving and advanced vehicle technologies.
Dr. Smith currently serves as a member of various impaired-driving-prevention working groups and committees for the International Council on Alcohol, Drugs, and Traffic Safety, Transportation Research Board, and Association of Transportation Safety Information Professionals. He is a peer reviewer for numerous scientific journals including, Addictive Behaviors, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, American Journal of Public Health, Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, and The British Medical Journal. He also serves on the Editorial Board of The Journal of Safety Research. Dr. Smith has over 150 combined scientific conference presentations, peer-reviewed journal articles, technical reports, and book chapters.
He obtained his Ph.D. and Master’s Degree in Industrial and Organization Psychology from Virginia Tech. He also holds Bachelor’s Degrees in Psychology, Sociology, and Political Science – all from Virginia Tech.
