The Department of Medicine is pleased to announce the appointment of Sonali Smith, MD as Chief of the Section of Hematology/Oncology effective November 1, 2020. Dr. Smith, the Elwood V. Jensen Professor, has been serving in an interim capacity since April 2019 where she has demonstrated exceptional leadership, thoughtful academic vision and insight for the Section.
Dr. Smith is an internationally recognized expert in lymphoma therapeutics who has made outstanding contributions to the field through her clinical care, significant scholarship and educational roles, and clinical research. She arrived in the Department of Medicine as a hematology/oncology fellow in 1998 and served as chief fellow for one year. In 2001 she was appointed to the faculty as an instructor. In 2017 she was promoted to professor and honored as the Elwood V. Jensen Professor of Medicine. Dr.Smith has served as the Director of the Lymphoma Program since 2011; she also serves as the Co-Leader for the Cancer Service Line. Dr. Smith has been recognized for her educational contributions with election to the Pritzker School of Medicine’s Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators and as a Senior Faculty Scholar in the Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence.
In addition to her institutional roles, Dr. Smith serves in a number of leadership positions with national and international visibility. She is vice-chair of the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) Lymphoma Committee where she oversees clinical trial development at the cooperative group level and mentors faculty across the country. As an active member of the American Society for Clinical Oncology ( ASCO), Dr. Smith serves as chair-elect of the Scientific Program Committee, chair of the Career Development and Engagement Subcommittee and is a member of the Women’s Professional Development Subcommittee and the Education Leadership Committee. In 2019 she was elected as a Fellow of ASCO. Dr. Smith serves as a member of the National Cancer Institute’s Lymphoma Steering Committee and the Scientific Advisory Board for the Lymphoma Research Foundation. Dr. Smith has chaired and organized the International John Ultmann Chicago Lymphoma Symposium, now in its 17th year. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer and Annals of Lymphoma. As a scholar, she has published nearly 190 publications and lectures extensively to peers and/or patient audiences nationally and internationally.
Dr. Smith’s vision for the Section of Hematology/Oncology is to expand the Section’s reputation as an national/international destination for cancer care, growth of the investigative programs and recruitment of top faculty and fellowship candidates with an increased focus on diversity.