He has worked in Nigeria since the late 1980s, first as a public health worker with a nongovernmental organization and later as an anthropologist, conducting research on HIV/AIDS, rural-urban migration, fertility and family organization.Professor Smith has published widely on Nigeria in journals including AIDS;American Journal of Public Health; Africa; American Anthropologist; Culture, Health & Sexuality; and World Development, among others. His most recent book is titled A Culture of Corruption: Everyday Deception and Popular Discontent in Nigeria.