Roger Smith, former National Editor of the Los Angeles Times who helped lead its coverage of the Affordable Care Act’s passage and subsequent legal challenges, will become Managing Editor of the California HealthCare Foundation’s Center for Health Reporting at USC Annenberg.

Smith, a USC journalism alumnus, has an enviable background in news, particularly in-depth analysis, investigative journalism and narrative storytelling – all areas the Center emphasizes, the Center said in a news release this week.

Smith has directed presidential campaign coverage and shaped the work of national correspondents. He has overseen reporters covering religion, science and medicine.

For many years, Smith was editor of the Times’ signature front-page feature, “Column One,” and is a master at story conception and narrative structure, the Center said.

He has also supervised a number of investigative projects, including two Pulitzer Prize award winners.

Smith is a California native who spent more than three decades at the Times.

The CHCF Center for Health Reporting is an independent news organization that partners with news media to report about California health care issues. Based at the USC Annenberg, it is funded by the non-profit California HealthCare Foundation.