Rebecca Smith is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine and a Health Innovations Professor at the Carle-Illinois College of Medicine, as well as an affiliate of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. Her research focuses on the use of mathematical and statistical modeling to predict and fight diseases, particularly infectious diseases. Some of the topics in her work include vector-borne diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and mycobacterial diseases of livestock. She also researches the role of surveillance intensity and distribution on forecasting ability and accuracy.