Rate My Professor Nicola Smith

Associate Professor Nicola Smith heads the Department of Pharmacology in the School of Biomedical Sciences within the Faculty of Medicine & Health at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney). She holds a BA (2001), BSc (2001), BSc (First Class Honours, 2002), and PhD (2007), all from the University of Melbourne. Her PhD research at the Baker Heart Research Institute examined EGFR transactivation by the angiotensin II receptor in left ventricular hypertrophy, supervised by Professors Walter Thomas and Ross Hannan. Awarded a joint NHMRC/National Heart Foundation CJ Martin Overseas Fellowship, she conducted postdoctoral research in Professor Graeme Milligan's laboratory at the University of Glasgow (2007-2011). In 2011, she joined the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, establishing a research program on orphan G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), becoming Group Leader in 2016, and securing a National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship (Level 2) in 2017. She relocated to UNSW Sydney in mid-2019 as Senior Lecturer, founding the Orphan Receptor Laboratory, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2022 for her contributions to research, teaching, and engagement.

A molecular pharmacologist, Smith's research centers on orphan GPCRs—unliganded receptors comprising part of the largest family of human membrane proteins—with implications for cardiovascular health, hypertension, anxiety, and lung cancer. Her laboratory integrates high-throughput GPCR signaling assays, structural biology, computational modeling, and human organoids for drug discovery. She has obtained over $2.5 million in competitive funding from NHMRC, National Heart Foundation, and others. Awards include the 2024 ASCEPT Outstanding Contribution and Leadership Award, 2012 NSW Young Tall Poppy Award, 2011 ASCEPT Denis Wade New Investigator Award, 2015 Garvan Institute Oral Prize, and 2009 Journal of Biological Chemistry 'Paper of the Week'. Select publications are "Shifting our perspective on orphan G protein-coupled receptors" (Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 2024), "Highlights and hot topics in GPCR research from ‘Down Under’" (British Journal of Pharmacology, 2024), "Primary cilia, A-kinase anchoring proteins and constitutive activity at the orphan G protein-coupled receptor GPR161" (British Journal of Pharmacology, 2024), and "Gene expression analyses of TAS1R taste receptors relevant to the treatment of cardiometabolic disease" (Chemical Senses, 2023). Elected President of ASCEPT (2026-2028), she has chaired annual meetings, supervises PhD candidates, teaches pharmacology, and engages in peer review and committees.