Dr Wilder-Smith is Associate Professor and Director of Dentistry at the University of California, Irvine’s Beckman Laser Institute. She is a Fellow of the University of California, Irvine’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, visiting Professor at Aachen University and lecturer at Loma Linda University’s Dept of Endodontics.

Professor Wilder-Smith's research interests include the use of non-invasive optical techniques such as OCT and fluorescence for oral diagnosis, especially the early detection and monitoring of oral pre-cancerous and cancerous changes.  Her work in this field over the past 15 years has resulted in much collaboration and more than 70 publications. She serves on many advisory boards, including the Medical Advisory Board to Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, the Board of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, as well as  the editorial boards of the journals Lasers in Surgery & Medicine and Journal of Biomedical Optics. Wilder-Smith also served on the board of the Diagnostics Group, International Association for Dental Research.