Fang Gao Smith is Professor of Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Pain at the University of Birmingham. Her pioneering work on “street fit” saccadic eye movements suggested this as a reliable test for when it was safe to discharge day surgery patients from anaesthesia. Embedding a research culture in the NHS for anaesthesia and critical care has been a key achievement. She has influenced the academic development of her field at national level as an expert panel member contributing to the founding of the National Institute for Academic Anaesthesia. She has also had international impact in spreading good clinical trial practice in China, directing a Joint Clinical Research Centre with the Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit.