Steering Committee Member – Robert A. Smith, PhD
Robert A. Smith, PhD
American Cancer Society
Dr. Robert A. Smith is a cancer epidemiologist and Senior Director, Cancer Control at the National Office of the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, Georgia. He also is Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University School of Medicine. His primary research interests are cancer epidemiology, evaluation of cancer prevention and early detection programs, multi-chronic disease models of preventive care, and quality assurance in the delivery of health services.He received his PhD from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1983. Prior to joining the staff at the ACS, he held positions with the Boston University School of Public Health, and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.At the American Cancer Society he leads the development of cancer screening guidelines. He is the author of over 250 peer-reviewed scientific articles, reports, and book chapters. He also is a frequent lecturer on issues related to cancer prevention and early detection.
He serves on many international and national government and professional advisory committees and working groups, including the American College of Radiology Committee on Screening and Emerging Technologies, the American College of Radiology Commission on Breast Imaging, National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable, for which he is the Co-Chair, the International Colorectal Cancer Screening Network, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) Lung Cancer CT Screening Task Force, and the Data Safety and Monitoring Committee of the United Kingdom Lung Cancer Screening Trial.He also was among the founding members of Cervical Cancer Action, an international community of organizations and individuals dedicated to working collaboratively to eliminate cervical cancer deaths worldwide.
Among his awards and honors, Dr. Smith is an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Breast Imaging, and in 2004 he was recognized by the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Board of Sponsors for Outstanding Advances in Breast Cancer. That year he also received the Cancer Prevention Laurel for Outstanding National Leadership from the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation. In 2011 he received the Medal of Honor from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).