Sonali M. Smith, MD, the Elwood V. Jensen Professor of Medicine & Chief of the Section of Hematology/Oncology, Co-Leader of the Cancer Service Line, and Director of the Lymphoma Program has been selected as the 2021 recipient of ASCO’s Excellence in Teaching Award. This award is intended to recognize individuals with demonstrable impact on trainees and who have inspired and shaped the trainee’s practice of cancer medicine. The award underscores ASCO’s belief that teaching is as important to the future of cancer medicine as are research, care delivery, and clinical work.
Dr. Smith is a renowned clinical investigator in lymphoma and a clinical expert in mature lymphoid malignancies, including Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas. She has authored or co-authored dozens of clinical trials and has participated in many more with key input in the clinical design, determination of endpoints, and analysis. She has nearly 200 publications in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Smith is particularly interested in targeted agents and pathway inhibitors and has first and senior author publications through cooperative group trials and investigator-initiated trials. A significant portion of her research has focused on prognosis and the ability to deliver individualized therapy. She has won numerous teaching awards and considers mentorship a key aspect of her career.
Dr. Smith was formally recognized at the recent virtual ASCO annual meeting.