James F. Smith, MD, MS received his undergraduate training from the University of California, Berkeley, where he obtained a degree in molecular biology with high honors. He enrolled in the University of California's Joint Medical Program, a partnership between Berkeley's School of Public Health and UCSF’s School of Medicine, earning a master's degree in 2000 and a medical degree in 2002. Dr. Smith completed his general surgery and urology training at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and returned to UCSF as an andrology fellow from 2007-2009. He became Assistant Professor in Residence in 2009 and Associate Professor in Residence in 2015.

Since 2009, Dr. Smith has been Director of Male Reproductive Health at UCSF providing male fertility preservation counseling and treatment and caring for men with azoospermia, oligoasthenospermia, desire for vasectomy, low testosterone, and erectile dysfunction. He specializes in the use of minimally invasive vasectomy, microsurgical vasectomy reversal, sperm retrieval, spermatic cord denervation, and varicocele repair.

Dr. Smith’s NIH-supported research centers on his desire to help men and boys with cancer become fathers after surviving cancer treatment. With his collaborators, he investigates sperm motility, spermatogenesis, and semen physiology; conducts translational research focused on fertility preservation and restoration; and seeks to identify and break down barriers to accessing reproductive care, with special interest in the barriers cancer patients face when attempting to utilize reproductive services.