Smita Bhatia, M.D., M.P.H., the Ruth Ziegler Chair in Population Sciences, has been elected to serve on the board of directors for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Her four-year term began Jan. 1.
Smita Bhatia will represent pediatrics on the American Society for Clinical Oncology board. (Photo by Walter Urie)“It is a great honor and privilege to serve on ASCO’s board,” Bhatia said. “I look forward to collaborating and working with my colleagues on the board to improve clinical research and the standard of care for the treatment and prevention of cancers, particularly in the fields of pediatric cancers, cancer survivorship and disparities research.”
As a board member, Bhatia will evaluate and develop ASCO’s strategic plan and policies, approve clinical practice guidelines and opinions and review chair and member appointments to ASCO committees, subcommittees and task forces. She also will monitor the implementation and effectiveness of the society’s programs.
In addition to serving on the board, Bhatia is on ASCO’s Cancer Survivorship Committee and also has served on its Cancer Prevention Committee as well as the editorial board of its official journal, the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
A member of the association since 1996, Bhatia is known for her research on cancer outcomes and the long-term health of cancer survivors. She chaired the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) Late Effects Committee from 2000 to 2008, leading and facilitating research related to long-term complications among survivors of childhood cancers. She currently is serving as the associate chair for COG.
She has published papers in numerous prominent journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nature Medicine, and Cancer Cell and Blood, and earned numerous honors and awards for her research, including The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Scholar in Clinical Research Award, Frank Oski Lectureship and election into the American Society for Clinical Investigation.
