Dr. Smith is a thoracic medical oncologist specializing in lung cancers and thymoma, with expertise in palliative medicine focused on symptom and side-effect management to improve quality of life. She joined Memorial Sloan Kettering in May 2025 as the institution’s inaugural chief medical officer, with responsibility for clinical quality, patient safety, regulatory compliance and clinical operations across the institution. She is deeply grounded in advocacy and equity. Her research, supported by the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Health Research Center, focuses on reducing barriers to care and improving outcomes through novel care-delivery models and stronger communication between patients and physicians. She is also involved in an National Institutes of Health-funded study examining how a cancer doctor’s attitudes or beliefs can influence communication and clinical results. Nationally, she is active in the American Society of Clinical Oncology, serving on the nominating committee and as chair of its annual meeting education program committee, leading the development of educational content for the conference. Prior to joining MSK, she served as chief medical officer for the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center and vice president of cancer clinical affairs at Mount Sinai in New York City, and as a professor of medicine and of geriatrics and palliative medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
