After earning her Master’s degree from the University of Kentucky and Ph.D. from the University of Louisville, Dr. Kirsten Smith completed a postdoctoral training fellowship at the National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program. Working in NIDA’s Translational Addiction Medicine Branch, Dr. Smith began investigating real-world instances of kratom use. Before leaving NIDA, she completed a NIDA K-99 funded national ecological momentary assessment study of daily kratom use and associated laboratory pilot substudy on the acute effects of commercial kratom products among adults who use regularly. As Assistant Professor, Dr. Smith is now continuing her kratom research at Johns Hopkins University with a NIDA R00-funded behavioral pharmacology inpatient study.