Dr Smith was Wine Australia’s Senior Research & Innovation Program Manager and replaces Dr Liz Waters Wine Australia has announced the promotion of Dr Paul Smith to General Manager, Research…

Dr Smith was Wine Australia’s Senior Research & Innovation Program Manager and replaces Dr Liz Waters

Wine Australia has announced the promotion of Dr Paul Smith to General Manager, Research & Innovation.

Dr Smith was Wine Australia’s Senior Research & Innovation Program Manager and replaces Dr Liz Waters, recently promoted to Chief Operating Officer.

In his new role, Dr Smith will have oversight of the co-investment of industry and Commonwealth funding into research, development and adoption activities to benefit Australia’s grape growers and winemakers.

“I am excited to bring my experience in leading research projects, and teams and managing a portfolio of complementary projects to this role,” Dr Smith said. “I’m particularly passionate about maximising the innovation aspects of the investments we make by realising value from the research that forms a foundation for practical, profitable outcomes for the Australian grape and wine community.”

Dr Smith joined the Wine Australia team in 2017, taking a critical role in the research and innovation portfolio after a 14-year tenure with the Australian Wine Research Institute where he managed teams of grape and wine researchers.

Before that, he completed post-doctoral research at CSIRO Molecular Science and the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at Flinders University. Dr Smith has a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Flinders University.