Black By God: People Moving the Mountains Spotlight Profile: Dr. Brittany Smith

By Traci Phillips | Black By God — The West Virginian

The Trauma-Research Trailblazer Changing Childhood Outcomes in Appalachia

Dr. Brittany Smith represents a powerful shift in how America understands childhood trauma, rural health, and the future of public health leadership. A native of Cannelton, West Virginia, and a graduate of the West Virginia University School of Public Health’s PhD program, Dr. Smith is part of a new generation of Black Appalachian scholars whose research is transforming both state and national conversations about childhood well-being.

Growing up in a small river town shaped by the beauty and burdens of Appalachia, Dr. Smith witnessed early how children absorb the weight of their surroundings. She saw how instability, poverty, and the opioid epidemic shaped young lives long before adulthood. Those personal experiences became the foundation of her academic path and her mission: to understand how systems influence childhood outcomes — and to improve them.

Her research examines childhood adversity, maternal substance use, and the long-term impact of trauma in communities that are often overlooked in national studies. Unlike outside scholars who analyze rural families from a distance, Dr. Smith approaches her work with cultural fluency and lived understanding. She knows the terrain, the people, and the experiences behind the numbers — and that grounding gives her work urgency and authenticity.

A central thread of Dr. Smith’s work is challenging national assumptions about rural life. Trauma in Appalachia does not look the same as trauma in urban centers. Barriers to mental-health care, geographic isolation, economic stress, and generational trauma create a unique landscape of adversity. But what Dr. Smith’s research also highlights — powerfully — is resilience. Families adapt, communities support one another, and young people often carry insights that public health systems undervalue.

That belief in the power of youth voice is shaping Dr. Smith’s newest research project, which focuses on understanding the experiences of teens and young adults whose parents are currently receiving — or have previously received — treatment for drug use. Their stories are rarely centered in public health research, yet these firsthand experiences can guide more compassionate, effective support systems for families navigating recovery.

To ensure these experiences inform future programs, Dr. Smith is currently recruiting young people ages 15–24 for confidential, one-hour interviews. Participants receive $50 for their time, and more importantly, their perspectives help illuminate what children and young adults need as their families heal.

Youth interested in participating can contact Dr. Smith directly at bts96@pitt.edu for more information.

As a Black woman leading in a predominantly white research field, Dr. Smith expands what leadership in trauma science looks like. She blends rigorous public health scholarship with lived truth, offering a roadmap for community-informed solutions in places long ignored by national institutions. Her rise signals a future where rural expertise is valued, where public health research reflects actual community experiences, and where data becomes a tool for healing rather than judgment.

Innovation does not always come from coastal universities or national think tanks. Sometimes it comes from women like Dr. Brittany Smith — born in Appalachia, educated in Appalachia, committed to Appalachia — and determined to transform it.

That is why Dr. Smith is featured in Black By God: People Moving the Mountains — a series honoring Black West Virginians whose leadership is reshaping the future of Appalachia and expanding what the nation believes is possible.