Matthew Smith is Professor of Health History at the University of Strathclyde's Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare.  He researches and writes about the history of health and medicine, often focussing on mental health, allergy and diet.  His books include Hyperactive: The Controversial History of ADHD (Reaktion), Another Person's Poison: A History of Food Allergy (Columbia UP) and The First Resort: The History of Social Psychiatry in the United States (Columbia UP).  Matt's next book, Why We Need the History of Health of Medicine (Polity) does what it says on the tin.  So does the book he is currently writing: Traces of Sanity: Lessons from History for the Future of Mental Health (Polity).  

Matt is a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker and appears regularly on the BBC and other broadcasters.  He has given dozens of talks to public and professional audiences, ranging from the Free Thinking Festival and Cafe Scientifique to the Department for Education and Mind, the mental health charity.  

Originally from western Canada, Matt lives near Glasgow with his two children and Star, the dog.