Smith, Blair, FRSE MD MEd FRCGP FFPMRCA FRCP Edin

Professor

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1991 …2023

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Personal profile

Biography

Holding a Chair in Population Health Science, Blair is an academic general practitioner, currently also practising clinically as a Consultant in Pain Medicine, NHS Tayside.  He is Clinical Co-director of Tayside Clinical Trials Unit.  Graduating at the Universities of Glasgow (MBChB, 1987) and Aberdeen (MEd Distinction 1998; MD 2000), he held an NHS Primary Care Career Scientist Award (2000 to 2005) and was Professor of Primary Care Medicine at the University of Aberdeen until 2011.  

His research on chronic pain and neuropathic pain has been published widely, specifically studying its epidemiology, genetics, primary care management and self-management.  He was a Chief Investigator on Generation Scotland, a major programme for studying genetics and health, with over 30,000 volunteer participants.  He is now actively exploring the opportunities that this and other collaborations bring to researching the biological mechanisms of chronic pain, from the laboratory to the community.  He has established the Chronic Pain Research Group at the University of Dundee, based in the Division of Population Health and Genomics.

He is Co-Chair of the International Association for the Study of Pain's Global Alliance of Pain Patient Advocates (GAPPA) and a Past Chair of the Neuropathic Pain Special Interest Group (NeuPSIG).  He was formerly Treasurer of the Society for Academic Primary Care, and sat on the Editorial Board of the British Journal of General Practice, both from 1997 to 2007.  He chaired the NHS Scotland / SGHD Chronic Pain Steering Group until June 2011, and established its Research Subgroup and the Scottish Pain Research Community (SPaRC).  He was appointed to his current post in August 2011.

Blair served as the Scottish Government's National Lead Clinician for Chronic Pain (2014 to 2021), and is Specialty Adviser to the Chief Medical Officer.  He aims to facilitate improvement in the management of pain, in an evidence-based yet practical way.

In 2017, Blair received the award for Best Postgraduate Supervisor from the Dundee University Students' Association.  In 2018, he was awarded the British Pain Society Medal and Annual Lecture, for "outstanding contribution to the field of pain".  He was listed by Clarivate as a "Highly Cited Researcher" (top 0.1% globally) in the Web of Science Report, 2020; and again in Highly Cited Researchers 2021 and 2022. He was recognized as an Expertscape World Expert in Chronic Pain  (top 0.05% globally), based on publications 2011 to 2021.  In 2023, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE).

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

Education/Academic qualification

PG Diploma in Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Award Date: 1 Jun 2001

Doctor of Medicine, Epidemiology of Chronic Pain, University of Aberdeen

Award Date: 1 Jan 2000

Master of Education, Distinction, University of Aberdeen

Award Date: 1 Jan 1998

Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, University of Glasgow

Award Date: 1 Jan 1987

External positions

Specialty Adviser to Chief Medical Officer, Scottish Government

1 Sept 2016 → …

National Lead Clinician for Chronic Pain, Scottish Government

1 Apr 201431 Mar 2021

Consultant in Pain Medicine, NHS Tayside

1 Apr 2013 → …

Surgeon Lieutenant Commander

20002005

Keywords

  • R Medicine (General)
  • Chronic pain
  • Primary Care Medicine
  • RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
  • Epidemiology
  • Genetic epidemiology

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