Carissa M. Baker-smith MD, MS, MPH

Dr. Carissa Baker-Smith MS, MPH, FAHA, FAAP, is a board certified pediatrician and pediatric cardiologist who specializes in prevention, quality improvement and advanced heart failure/pediatric transplantation. Dr. Baker-Smith was recognized as one of Baltimore’s Top Docs 2016. She is also the recipient of other awards, including the National Coalition of Black Women Torchbearer Award for her work in Pediatric Cardiology. After completing her undergraduate studies (major: mathematics) at Howard University in Washington DC, Dr. Baker-Smith attended the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where she obtained her Medical Doctorate (MD) and then a master’s degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology. She carried out basic science work in the area of angiogenesis.

She went on to complete her pediatric residency and pediatric cardiology fellowship at Duke University Medical Center (Durham, NC). While completing her pediatric cardiology fellow at Duke, she simultaneously completed a research fellowship at the Duke Clinical Research Institute and a master’s of public health degree in Biostatistics at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. In 2010, Dr. Baker-Smith joined the faculty at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Baker-Smith has combined her research training with her interest in quality improvement to design, implement (statistical analyses) and publish work related to quality improvement in children with congenital heart disease.