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Matthew J. Smith, PhD, MSW, MPE, LCSW, received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed post-doctoral fellowships in psychiatric epidemiology and biostatistics at Washington University in St. Louis and in translational neuroscience at Northwestern University. Smith also completed a fellowship on leading randomized controlled trials to evaluate behavioral interventions through the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Smith is the director of the NIH-Funded Level Up: Employment Skills Simulation Lab. The mission of his lab is to develop and evaluate technology-based interventions to help obtain and sustain employment for people from marginalized and underserved communities. Specifically, Smith partners with members of the autism, mental health and system impacted communities to develop employment-focused tools and evaluate them in real world settings such as high schools, community mental health agencies and re-entry programs. The Level Up Lab has been funded through the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH110524, R34 MH111531, R44 MH123359, R01 MH112625, R01 MH132656),;the National Institute of Justice (2019-MU-MU-0004); the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (90IFRE0031, 90IFDV0032); the Kessler Foundation (1003-1958-SEG-FY2016); Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research; and U-M's Poverty Solutions. See research link below for more information on these projects.

Research Interests

Autism; Schizophrenia; Technology-based Interventions and Trainings; Social Neuroscience

Contact Information

  • (734) 764-9322

  • 2850 SSWB
    University of Michigan
    School of Social Work
    1080 S. University Ave.
    Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Education

  • 2006 PhD Social Welfare
    University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • 2008 MPE Psychiatric Epidemiology
    Washington University, St. Louis, MO
  • 2000 MSW Social Work IP/MH
    University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
  • 1998 BS Psychology
    University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Activities

Websites

Publications

Genova, H., Sherwood, K., Goverover, Y., Dawalt, L., & Smith, M. J. (in press). Initial validation of measures assessing job interviewing anxiety and self efficacy ad job interview training motivation for transition age autistic youth.
Genova, H. M., Elsayed, H. E., Haas, M., Parrott, D. Krch, D. Dacanay, M., & Smith, M. J. (2024). A combined interventional approach to train interview skills in autistic transition-age youth. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Honors and Awards

Year Description
2024 2024 MICHR Distinguished Clinical and Translational Research Mentor Award
2023 Innovation in Research and Teaching Award, School of Social Work, University of Michigan

Presentations

Year Description
2024 Sherwood, K., & Smith, M. J. (2024, May). Prevalence and Experiences of AutisticMicroaggressions in the Workplace. [Poster presentation]. International Meeting for AutismResearch, Melbourne, Australia
2024 Smith, M.J., Sherwood, K., Genova, H., Ross, B., DaWalt, L., Bishop, L., Telfer, D., Brown, C.,Sanchez, B., and Kallen, M. A. (2024, May). Psychometric Properties of the Mock InterviewRating Scale for Autistic Transition-Age Youth. [Poster presentation]. International Meeting forAutism Research, Melbourne, Australia
2024 Smith, M.J., Sherwood, K., Sung, C., Williams, E. G., Ross, B., Sharma, S., Sharma, A.,Harrington, M., Brown, C., Telfer, D., Bond, J., Toda, S., Kearon, D., Morrow, S., Lovelace,T., Dababnah, S., Kattari, S. K., Magaña, S., Watkins, T., Liggett, C., Riddle, E., Smith, J. D.,Hume, K., Dawkins, T., Baker-Ericzén, M., Eack, S. M., Sinco, B., Burke-Miller, J., Olsen, D.,Elkins, J., Humm, L., Steacy, C. (2024, May). Randomized Controlled Trial of Workchat: AVirtual Workday, Preliminary Findings. [Poster presentation]. International Meeting for AutismResearch, Melbourne, Australia
2024 Smith, M.J., Sherwood, K., Sung, C., Williams, E. G., Ross, B., Sharma, S., Sharma, A.,Harrington, M., Brown, C., Telfer, D., Bond, J., Toda, S., Kearon, D., Morrow, S., Lovelace,T., Dababnah, S., Kattari, S. K., Magaña, S., Watkins, T., Liggett, C., Riddle, E., Smith, J. D.,Hume, K., Dawkins, T., Baker-Ericzén, M., Eack, S. M., Sinco, B., Burke-Miller, J., Olsen, D.,Elkins, J., Humm, L., Steacy, C. (2024, May). Demonstrating "Workchat: A Virtual Workday"and Its Initial Implementation Process Outcomes. [Poster presentation]. International Meeting forAutism Research, Melbourne, Australia
2024 Smith, M. J., Harrington, M., Ross, B., Mitchell, J., Funcke, L., Brydon, D. M., Cuddeback, G. S.,Bell, M. D., Kaminski, K., Kryscio, P., Seal, D., Friedman, B., Suganuma, A., & Smith, J. D.(2024, October). Leveling Up Employment Outcomes for Returning Citizens: Results of an RCTevaluating Virtual Reality Job Interview Training Delivered in a Pre-Release Trades Program.National Reentry Workforce Collaborative Annual Conference, Denver, CO.

Courses

Past Courses

Title Instructor Term Course Section Meeting Start Meeting End
Grant Writing for Extramural Research Funding Bornheimer, Lindsay A. Winter 2026 001 09:00 am 12:00 pm View Course
Grant Writing for Extramural Research Funding Smith, Matthew J. Winter 2025 001 09:00 am 12:00 pm View Course
Grant Writing for Extramural Research Funding Smith, Matthew J. Winter 2024 001 09:00 am 12:00 pm View Course
Grant Writing for Extramural Research Funding Smith, Matthew J. Winter 2023 001 09:00 am 12:00 pm View Course
Evaluating Behavioral Interventions in Randomized Controlled Trials Smith, Matthew J. Fall 2022 001 09:00 am 12:00 pm View Course
Grant Writing for Extramural Research Funding Smith, Matthew J. Winter 2021 001 09:00 am 12:00 pm View Course
Grant Writing for Extramural Research Funding Smith, Matthew J. Winter 2020 001 09:00 am 12:00 pm View Course
Grant Writing for Extramural Research Funding Smith, Matthew J. Winter 2019 001 09:00 am 12:00 pm View Course
Interpersonal Practice with Adult Individuals Smith, Matthew J. Winter 2018 001 09:00 am 12:00 pm View Course