Senior Fellow, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies Dr. Smithson is a political scientist who conducts in-depth field research on issues related to dual-use chemical and biological technologies, weapons proliferation, threat reduction mechanisms, defense, and homeland security. By forming untraditional issue alliances that cross private and public sectors and international borders, her work recommends practical steps that blend technical and policy instruments to reduce threats. Before joining the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, she worked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Henry L. Stimson Center. Her book Germ Gambits: The Bioweapons Dilemma, Iraq and Beyond debunks myths about how United Nations Special Commission inspectors uncovered Iraq’s covert bioweapons program after the 1991 Gulf War. She serves as vice chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons and has testified before the U.S. Congress on numerous occasions. She received a Ph.D. in political science from George Washington University.