Dr Smith-Lock is a speech pathologist, linguist and psychologist. She is an Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Allied Health, Faculty of Health Sciences at Curtin University, and Director of KSL Language & Literacy, which provides professional development for teachers and speech pathologists on evidence-based teaching practices for grammar, reading, spelling and writing.

Dr Smith-Lock has held lecturer and research positions in psychology, cognitive science and speech pathology. She has extensive experience working with school-aged children with language and literacy needs both in schools and in private practice.

Her research focuses on the acquisition of oral language, reading and spelling, their disorders and effective treatment methods. She aims to understand the nature of developmental language disorder (DLD) and dyslexia, to establish an evidence base for their effective treatment, and to support the use of evidence-based practice in everyday practice.