Richard Miln Smith AO
Biochemist and Nutritionist
Born: 20 April 1928, Tumby Bay
Died: 1 July 2015, Brighton
Education: Woodville High School; BSc, MSc, DSc University of Adelaide
A longstanding Fellow of the Royal Society of South Australia, Richard Smith was a pioneer in the fields of biochemistry and nutrition, and made an enormous contribution to both fields. The scope of this impact can be appreciated by reading his citation for appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia, which reads: “For distinguished service to scientific research in the fields of human nutrition, cardiovascular disease and agriculture, to Indigenous communities in rural and remote areas, and to professional organizations”.
Richard began his 45-year career with the CSIRO in 1948 when he was appointed a Research Scientist with the Division of Biochemistry and General Nutrition in Adelaide. His research focussed on the chemical basis of life, including the biochemical role of trace elements in nutrition, and the nutritional and endocrine factors affecting growth. Early in his career he identified a new enzyme function of vitamin B12 in the metabolism of propionate. This research, undertaken at the McCollum-Pratt Institute, Baltimore, was the first demonstration of a specific biochemical site of action of vitamin B12 in a mammalian system. During this period he also made fundamental scientific contributions to understanding the effects of cobalt deficiency on metabolism and the role of copper in the developing brain.
Later research programs with the CSIRO’s Division of Human Nutrition included iodine deficiency and the role of thyroid hormone in brain development, growth and endocrine development of premature infants, nutrition of low-birth weight infants in Aboriginal communities and risk factors for hypertension and cardiovascular disease – particularly in Aboriginal populations. At the time of his retirement in 1993 he was a Chief Research Scientist with the CSIRO Division of Human Nutrition. Following retirement, Richard continued to work for a number of years as a consultant to the Western Australian Health Department, Kimberley Region, on issues relating to low-birth weight infants and their nutrition.
His talents were widely recognised internationally, including an invitation early in his career to collaborate with Sir Hans Krebs, one of the foremost biochemists of the twentieth century. His appointments included a Fellowship at the McCollum-Pratt Institute, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, twice as a Visiting Scientist at the Medical Research Council’s Unit for Developmental Neurobiology in London, a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Nutritional Science at the University of California in Berkeley and a Senior Fulbright Scholar to the United States.
Richard was active in scientific organisations. He served a term as President of the Nutrition Society of Australia and was appointed a Fellow of the Society in 1993 after serving as Secretary General of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences XV Congress in Adelaide. He served as a member of the National Committee on Nutrition of the Australian Academy of Sciences and several other committees.
The extent of his peer-reviewed publications demonstrates the scope and depth of his scientific impact.
Publications of Richard M. Smith
Edited books
Walqvist, M. L., Truswell, A. S., Smith, R. M., & Nestel, P. J. (Eds.). (1995). Nutrition in a Sustainable Environment. Proceedings of the XVth International Congress of Nutrition, Adelaide, 1993. Smith Gordon, London.
Dreosti, I. E., & Smith, R. M. (Eds.). (1983). Neurobiology of the Trace Elements. 2 vols. Clifton, NJ: Humana Press.
Hetzel, B. S., & Smith, R. M. (Eds.). (1981). Fetal brain disorders: Recent approaches to the problem of mental deficiency. Amsterdam, North Holland: Elsevier.
Journal articles, book chapters and other contributions (by major research topic)
COBALT IN RUMINANT NUTRITION
Marston, H. R., & Smith, R. M. (1952). Cobalt in the nutrition of ruminants. Control of cobaltdeficiency in sheep by injection of vitamin B12. Nature, 170, 791.
Smith, R. M., & Monty, K. J. (1959). Vitamin B12 and propionate metabolism. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 1, 105–109.
Marston, H. R., Allen, S. H., & Smith, R. M. (1961). Primary metabolic defect supervening on vitamin B12 deficiency in the sheep. Nature, 190, 1085–1091.
Smith, R. M., Osborne-White, W. S., & Russell, G. R. (1969). Methylmalonic acid and coenzyme A concentrations in the livers of pairfed vitamin B12deficient and vitamin B12treated sheep. Biochemical Journal, 112, 703–707.
Smith, R. M., & Marston, H. R. (1970). Some metabolic aspects of vitamin B12 deficiency in sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 24, 879–891.
Smith, R. M., & Marston, H. R. (1970). Production, absorption, distribution and excretion of vitamin B12 in sheep. British Journal of Nutrition, 24, 857–877.
Smith, R. M., & Marston, H. R. (1971). Metabolism of propionate by pairfed vitamin B12deficient and vitamin B12treated sheep. British Journal of Nutrition, 26, 41–53.
Marston, H. R., Allen, S. H., & Smith, R. M. (1972). Production within the rumen and removal from the bloodstream of volatile fatty acids in sheep given a diet deficient in cobalt. British Journal of Nutrition, 27, 147–157.
Smith, R. M. (1987). Cobalt. In W. Mertz (Ed.), Trace elements in human and animal nutrition, Volume 2. Academic Press, New York pp. 143–183.
Smith, R. M. (1995). Cobalt. In B. L. O’Dell, B. L. (Eds.) Handbook of nutritionally essential elements. Marcel Dekker, N.Y.
VITAMIN B12–FOLATE INTERACTIONS
Osborne-White, W. S., & Smith, R. M. (1973). Identification and measurement of the folates in sheep liver. Biochemical Journal, 136, 265–278.
Smith, R. M., & Osborne-White, W. S. (1973). Folic acid metabolism in vitamin B12deficient sheep. Depletion of liver folates. Biochemical Journal, 136, 279–293.
Gawthorne, J. M., & Smith, R. M. (1973). The synthesis of Pteroylpylglutamates by sheep liver enzymes in vitro. Biochemical Journal, 136, 295–301.
Smith, R. M., Osborne-White, W. S., & Gawthorne, J. M. (1974). Folic acid metabolism in vitamin B12deficient sheep. Effects of injected methionine on liver constituents associated with folate metabolism. Biochemical Journal, 142, 105–117.
Gawthorne, J. M., & Smith, R. M. (1974). Folic acid metabolism in vitamin B12deficient sheep. Effects of injected methionine on methotrexate transport and the activity of enzymes associated with folate metabolism in liver. Biochemical Journal, 142, 119–126.
COPPER IN THE DEVELOPING BRAIN
Smith, R. M., Osborne-White, W. S., & O’Dell, B. L. (1976). Cytochromes in brain mitochondria from lambs with enzootic ataxia. Journal of Neurochemistry, 26, 1145–1148.
O’Dell, B. L., Smith, R. M., & King, R. A. (1976). Effect of copper status on brain neurotransmitter metabolism in the lamb. Journal of Neurochemistry, 26, 451–455.
Smith, R. M., Fraser, F. J., Russell, G. R., & Robertson, J. S. (1977). Enzootic ataxia in lambs: appearance of lesions in the spinal cord during foetal development. Journal of Comparative Pathology, 87, 119–128.
Smith, R. M., Fraser, F. J., & Robertson, J. S. (1978). Enzootic ataxia in lambs; absence of detectable neuronal pathology in foetal and neonatal spinal cord. Journal of Comparative Pathology, 88, 401–408.
Smith, R. M., King, R. A., Osborne-White, W. S., & Fraser, F. J. (1981). In Copper and the growth of the central nervous system: Observations in fetal and neonatal lambs. In B. R. McAuslin (Ed.) CSIRO Symposium on the importance of copper in biology and medicine, CSIRO, Canberra, pp. 92–99.
Smith, R. M., King, R. A., Osborne-White, W. S., & Fraser, F. J. (1981). Copper and the pathogenesis of enzootic ataxia. Trace Element Metabolism in Man and Animals, 4, 294–297.
Smith, R. M. (1981). Menkes disease and the role of copper in brain development. In: B. S. Hetzel and R. M. Smith (Eds.). Fetal Brain Disorders. Recent approaches to the problem of mental deficiency. Elsevier/North Holland, Amsterdam, pp. 365–388.
Smith, R. M. (1983). Copper in the developing brain. In I. E. Dreosti and R. M. Smith (Eds.). Neurobiology of the trace elements. Humana Press, Clifton N.J, pp. 1–40.
IODINE, THYROID HORMONE AND BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
Smith, R. M., Osborne-White, W. S., & King, R. A. (1978). Changes in the sarcolemma of the hypothyroid heart. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 80, 715–721.
Smith, R. M., King, R. A., & Buckley, R. A. (1980). Intracellular sodium and potassium concentrations in heart and skeletal muscles from chronically hypothyroid sheep. In J. R. Stockigt and S. Nagataki (Eds.). Thyroid Research VIII Proceedings of the eighth international thyroid congress. Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, pp. 331–334.
King, R. A., Smith, R. M., Osborne-White, W. S., McIntosh, G. H., Potter, B. J., & Hetzel, B. S. (1980). Effects of betaadrenergic stimulation on adenine nucleotides in chronically hypothyroid heart. The 6th International Congress of Endocrinology, Melbourne, Vic., pp. 276.
Smith, R. M., Patel, A. J., Kingsbury, A. E., Hunt, A., & Balazs, R. (1980). Effects of thyroid state on brain development, betaadrenergic receptors and 5’nucleotidase activity. Brain Research, 198, 375–387.
Patel, A. J., Smith, R. M., Kingsbury, A. E., Hunt, A., & Balazs, R. (1980). Effects of thyroid state on brain development: muscarinic acetylcholine and gaba receptors. Brain Research, 198, 389–402.
Patel, A. J., Balazs, R., Smith, R. M., Kingsbury, A. E., & Hunt, A. (1980). Thyroid hormone and brain development. In C. di Benedetta (Ed.). Multidisciplinary approach to brain development, pp. 261–277, Elsevier North Holland Biomedical Press.
Smith, R. M. (1981). Thyroid hormones and brain development. In B. S. Hetzel and R. M. Smith (Eds.). Fetal brain disorders: Recent approaches to the problem of mental deficiency, pp. 149–185. Elsevier/North Holland, Amsterdam.
Smith, R. M., & Hetzel, B. S. (1981). Developmental neurobiology and mental deficiency – A summary. In B. S. Hetzel and R. M. Smith (Eds.). Fetal brain disorders: Recent approaches to the problem of mental deficiency, pp.463–473. Elsevier/North Holland, Amsterdam.
King, R. A., Rogers, P. F., Howe, P. R. C., & Smith, R. M. (1983). Effects of hypothyroidism on noradrenaline (NA) and serotonin (5HT) in regions of developing rat brain. Neuroscience Letters, Supplement, 11, S56.
King, R. A., Smith, R. M., & Dreosti, I. E. (1983). Regional effects of hypothyroidism on cyclic nucleotide phosphohydrolase and 5’nucleotidase activities in developing rat brain. Developmental Brain Research, 7, 287–294.
Smith, R. M., Howe, P. R. C., & King, R. A. (1983). Myelin Structures and Metabolism. In L. Austin and P. Jeffrey (Eds.). Molecular aspects of neurological disorders. Academic Press, Australia, pp. 221–229.
Smith, R. M., King, R. A., Howe, P. R. C., Osborne-White, W. S., Potter, B. J., & Field, J. B. (1985). Effect of thyroid hormone on the development of central noradrenergic mechanisms. In N. Kochupillai, M. G. Karmarkar and V. Ramalingaswami (Eds.). Proceedings of Int. Symposium on Iodine Nutrition, Thyroxine and Brain Development, McGrawHill, New Delhi, pp. 168–180.
TRACE ELEMENTS GENERAL
Smith, R.M & Gawthorne, J. M. (1974). The biochemical basis of deficiencies of zinc, manganese, copper and cobalt in animals. In Trace elements in soilplantanimal systems. Proceedings of a symposium at the Waite Institute.
Lee, H. J., & Smith, R. M. (1976). Trace elements in animal nutrition. In CSIRO Animal to Human Nutrition. Proceedings of the Jubilee Symposium held at Adelaide University, p. 1–23.
Smith, R. M. (1978). Trace elements in animal and human nutrition. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of Australia, 3, 13–17.
Smith, R. M. (1980). Trace element requirements. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of Australia, 5, 36–43.
Smith, R. M. (1981). Trace element needs of species in relation to body size. Trace Element Metabolism in Man and Animals, 4, 9–123.
Smith, R. M., & Dreosti, I. E. (1983). Neurobiology of the trace elements: a summary. In I. E. Dreosti and R. M. Smith (Eds.). Neurobiology of the trace elements. Human Press, Clifton NJ.
Smith, R. M. (1985). The Underwood Memorial Lecture: Biochemical criteria of trace element deficiency and toxicity. Trace element metabolism in man and animals, 5, 567–575.
Smith, R. M. (1989). Factors regulating the development of the central nervous system. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of Australia, 14, 29–37.
INTERMEDIARY METABOLISM OF RUMINANTS
Smith, R. M., & Osborne-White, W. S. (1961). Metabolism of propionate by homogenates of normal sheep liver. Nature, 192, 868.
Smith, R. M., & Osborne-White, W. S. (1965). Metabolism of propionate by sheep liver. Oxidation of propionate by homogenates. Biochemical Journal, 95, 411–422.
Smith, R. M., Osborne-White, W. S., & Russell, G. R. (1965). Metabolism of propionate by sheep liver. Stimulation of the mitochondrial rate by factors from the cell sap. Biochemical Journal, 95, 423–430.
Smith, R. M., Osborne-White, W. S., & Russell, G. R. (1965). Metabolism of propionate by sheep liver. Interrelations of propionate and glutamate in aged mitochondria. Biochemical Journal, 95, 431–436.
Smith, R. M., & Russell, G. R. (1967). Activation of shortchain fatty acids by sheepliver mitochondria. Biochemical Journal, 102, 39C–41C.
Smith, R. M., Osborne-White, W. S., & Russell, G. R. (1967). Metabolism of propionate by sheep liver. Pathway of propionate metabolism in aged homogenate and mitochondria. Biochemical Journal, 104, 441–9.
Smith, R. M., & Russell, G. R. (1967). Metabolism of propionate by sheep liver mitochondria. Effects of αoxoglutarate, adenosine triphosphate, sodium chloride and potassium chloride. Biochemical Journal, 104, 450–9,
Smith, R. M., & Russell, G. R. (1967). Metabolism of propionate by sheepliver mitochondria. Evidence for rate control by a specific succinate oxidase. Biochemical Journal, 104, 460–472.
Smith, R. M., & Osborne-White, W. S. (1969). Synthesis of phosphoenolpyruvate by sheep liver mitochondria. Proceedings of the Australian Biochemical Society.
Smith, R. M. (1971). Interactions of acetate, propionate and butyrate in sheep liver mitochondria. Biochemical Journal, 124, 877–881.
Smith, R. A., & King, R. A. (1971). Evidence for two sites of phosphoenolpyruvate synthesis in sheep liver mitochondria. Proceedings of the Australian Biochemical Society, 4, 69.
Smith, R. M., & Osborne-White, W. S. (1971). Synthesis of phosphoenolpyruvate from propionate in sheep liver. Biochemical Journal, 124, 867–876.
NUTRITION, GROWTH AND ENDOCRINE DEVELOPMENT OF PREMATURE INFANTS
Smith, R. M., Howe, P. R. C., Oliver, J. R., & Willoughby, J. O. (1984). Growth hormone releasing factor immunoreactivity in rat hypothalamus. Neuropeptides, 4, 109–115.
Lineham, J. D., Smith, R. M., Dahlenburg, G. W., King, R. A., Haslam, R. R., Stuart, M. C., & Faull, L. (1986). Circulating insulinlike growth factor I levels in newborn premature and fullterm infants followed longitudinally. Early Human Development, 13, 37–46.
King, R. A., Smith, R. M., & Dahlenburg, G. W. (1986). Long term postnatal development of insulin secretion in early premature infants. Early Human Development, 13, 285–294.
King, R. A., Smith, R. M., & Willoughby, J. O. (1986). Effect of sustained hyperglycemia on growth hormone secretion in freemoving rats. Hormone and Metabolic Research, 8, 510–511.
King, R. A., Smith, R. M., Meller, J. D., Dahlenburg, G. W., & Lineham, J. D. (1988). Effects of growth hormone on growth and myelination in the neonatal hypothyroid rat. Journal of Endocrinology, 119, 117–125.