Aaron Smith
Staff Writer
CNNMoney.com

Aaron Smith, a staff writer for CNNMoney.com, covers Big Pharma and biotechs, focusing on the FDA and the industry's efforts to put new drugs on the market.

Before coming to CNN in 2005, Aaron covered a different kind of drug market as a crime reporter for The New York Sun and the Staten Island Advance, where he became well-acquainted with shootings and car wrecks. Aaron appeared on National Public Radio, to discuss the ongoing rivalry between the NYPD and the FDNY, as well as The O'Reilly Factor, where he discussed the Republican National Convention.

Aaron also reported for the financial publications The IPO Reporter and The Bond Buyer. Prior to that, Aaron shadowed celebrities for People magazine and covered the military for The Times Record, a newspaper in Maine.

A Florida native, Aaron lives in Brooklyn, where he writes science fiction novels. Before he began his journalism career, he "thru-hiked" the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, and worked a brief stint as a circus barker. That last job was somewhat lacking in future prospects, prompting him to attend college, at Johnson State in Vermont.