He has been co-applicant and collaborator on many funded projects with researchers from Lancaster University in the departments of Sociology, Computing and Physics as well as the Institute for Health Research, where he held an Honorary Chair from 2005 to 2008. A new honorary post in the new School of Health and Medicine is pending. He was awarded the George Arnott Professorship by the UK Royal College of Anaesthetists in 2004.

Nationally, Andrew Smith has long-standing connections with NHS knowledge networks such as Connecting for Health and NHS Evidence (formerly National Library for Health). He is also an editor in the Cochrane Anaesthesia Review Group, based in Copenhagen, a member of the joint National Patient Safety Agency/Royal College of Anaesthetists' 'Safe Anaesthesia Liaison Group' and Chair of the Guidelines Committee of the European Society of Anaesthesiology. He was also involved in the production and launch of the Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety in Anaesthesiology, a Europe-wide initiative to improve the safety of patient care.

His research interests centre on professional knowledge, evidence in practice, communication, risk and safety, focusing especially on anaesthesia and the perioperative period.

Recent grants include the following:

BRACCIA: Brain, respiratory and cardiac causalities in anaesthesia (with McClintock P, Stefanovska A and others) European Union, 2005-9, € 1.4 million. European collaboration of physicists and anaesthetists examining synchronisation of biological signals under anaesthesia.

An exploration of bedside checking processes for inpatients in the acute care setting (with Smith D, Kane M). Patient Safety Research Programme, £63 000, 2006-7

Recent publications include:

Smith AF, Glavin R, Greaves D. Defining excellence in anaesthesia: the role of personal qualities and practice environment. British Journal of Anaesthesia 2010 (forthcoming)

Arnot-Smith J, Smith AF. Patient safety incidents involving neuromuscular blockade: analysis of the UK National Reporting and Learning System data from 2006 to 2008. Anaesthesia 2010 (forthcoming).

Maclennan A, Smith AF. An analysis of critical incidents relevant to paediatric anaesthesia reported to the UK National Reporting and Learning System, 2006-2008. Pediatric Anesthesia (forthcoming)

Mellin-Olsen J, Ständer S, Whitaker DK, Smith AF. The Helsinki declaration for patient safety in anaesthesiology. European Journal of Anaesthesiology 2010; 27: 592-7

Smith AF. Monitoring of neuromuscular blockade in general anaesthesia. Lancet 2010; 376: 77-9.

Smith AF, Mishra K. Interaction between anaesthetists, their patients and the anaesthesia team. British Journal of Anaesthesia 2010; 105: 60-68.

Smith AF, Greaves JD. Beyond competence: defining and promoting excellence in anaesthesia. Anaesthesia 2010; 65: 184-91.

Smith AF, Boult M, Woods I, Johnson S. Promoting patient safety through prospective risk identification: example from perioperative care. Quality and Safety in Health Care 2010; 19: 69-73.

Smith AF, Mahajan RP. National critical incident reporting: improving patient safety (editorial). British Journal of Anaesthesia 2009; 103: 623-5.

Smith AF, Pope C, Goodwin D, Mort M. Interprofessional handover and patient safety in anaesthesia: observational study of handovers in the recovery room. British Journal of Anaesthesia 2008

Smith AF, Goodwin D, Mort M, Pope C. Adverse events in anaesthetic practice: qualitative study of definition, discussion and reporting British Journal of Anaesthesia 2006; 96: 715-21.

Watch out for these books in 2011!

Cyna A, Tan S, Andrew M, Smith AF (eds). Communication Skills for Anaesthetists. Oxford University Press

Stefanovska A, McClintock PVE, Raeder J, Smith AF (eds) Nonlinear Dynamics of Anaesthesia: From Theory to Clinical Application. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag