Dr. Jodi L. Smith is an academic pediatric neurosurgeon at James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children and an Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the Indiana University Medical Center/Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana.   Dr. Smith's clinical interests include pediatric epilepsy surgery, brain and spinal cord tumors, brain and spinal cord congenital malformations, hydrocephalus, myelodsyplasia, craniofacial disorders, and Moyamoya syndrome.   Dr. Smith's research interests include understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of neurulation, including the role of folic acid/folic acid deficiency in this process, and understanding the electrophysiological properties of dysplastic/epileptogenic human cortical tissue using a multi channel electrode array.

Dr. Smith received her Ph.D. in Anatomy at the University of Utah School of Medicine for her doctoral dissertation studies on "Neurulation."   Dr. Smith subsequently completed medical school and residency training in Neurological Surgery at the University of Utah, as well.   Following residency, Dr. Smith completed a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachussetts.   Dr. Smith joined the Department of Neurological Surgery at the Indiana University Medical Center/Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana in 2000.

Dr. Smith is a Diplomat of the American Board of Neurological Surgery, and her memberships include The Congress of Neurological Surgeons, The American Association of Neurological Surgeons, The American Association of Neurological Surgeons - Pediatric Section, and The Society for Neuroscience.

Dr. Smith is the founder and Co-director of the pediatric surgical epilepsy program at Riley Hospital for Children, Indiana University School of Medicine.   Her responsibilities include (1) evaluating pediatric patients with medically refractory epilepsy to determine whether they qualify for surgical treatment of their seizures; (2) operating on all children with medically refractory epilepsy who are found to be appropriate surgical candidates in order to rid them of their debilitating seizures; (3) educating primary care physicians and pediatric neurologists regarding the surgical treatment of childhood epilepsy (e.g., who and when to refer); and (4) developing further the surgical epilepsy program at Riley Hospital for Children to provide the children of Indiana who suffer from seizures the opportunity to be seizure free off medications.   Dr. Smith is also the Director of the pediatric cerebral revascularization program at Riley Hospital for Children for treatment of pediatric patients with moyamoya syndrome and she serves as a prenatal counselor for pregnant women diagnosed with fetal birth defects, such as hydrocephalus, Dandy-Walker Malformations, and Neural Tube Defects (e.g., spina bifida).