Michael Smith

Michael Smith is trained both as a pharmacist and a licensed naturopathic doctor. In 2001, he joined the Natural Health Products Directorate at Health Canada and over the next eight years held several positions leading to serving as Director of the Bureau of the Partnerships, Outreach and International Affairs responsible for International collaboration and stakeholder engagement. On a two-year international assignment from Health Canada, in May 2009 Michael became the Assistant Secretary/Head of the Office of Complementary Medicine at the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia responsible for the management of the pre-market regulatory framework for complementary medicines as well as acting as an expert resource on this topic to the Commonwealth of Australia government.
Over his career, Michael has worked actively on the international stage most notably with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Traditional Medicine program and in 2009, was appointed to its 12 member Expert Advisory Panel on Traditional and Complementary Medicine. He was one of primary technical drafters of the WHO Global Strategy for Traditional & Complementary Medicine (2014-2023) and continues to participate in WHO projects, working groups and consultations notably dealing with the regulation and policy setting related to traditional and complementary medicines. Michael has acted as a consultant to organisations in both the private and public sector in North America and overseas. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Samueli Institute in Alexandria, Virginia and is an Adjunct Fellow at the National Institute of Complementary Medicine, University of Western Sydney in Australia.