Dr. Smith is an oncologist and palliative care specialist with a lifelong interest in better symptom management and improving access to high quality affordable care. He is the Director of Palliative Medicine for Johns Hopkins Medicine, charged with integrating palliative care into all the Johns Hopkins venues. The PC consult service sees over 1500 new patients a year, and a research agenda with “Scrambler Therapy” for chemotherapy induced neuropathy and transverse myelitis pain, palliative care for patients on Phase I drug trials, palliative care for patients undergoing Whipple procedures, and others. With Patrick Coyne and others, he helped start the Thomas Palliative Care Unit and Program at VCU-MCV in the late 1990s.
Dr. Smith has been recognized in “Best Doctors in America” for many years and is a Fellow in the American College of Physician, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. He received the ACS Trish Greene Award for “outstanding research that benefits cancer patients and their families” in 2018 was recognized as a “Visionary in Palliative Care” by AAHPM, and in 2019 will receive the AAHPM/PDIA National Leadership Award.