Karen Smith currently holds a joint appointment between the School of Nursing and Health sciences, Dundee University and the Cardiology department, NHS Tayside, as a nurse consultant in Cardiology. She has been actively involved in cardiovascular care, including the development and evaluation of specialist nursing services, led nursing research and educational initiatives within clinical practice and higher education. Karen has been involved in national strategies, standards and guideline development and contributed to national and international conferences in cardiology. She is an active member of several related professional associations and has published in peer reviewed journals and text books.