Monthly Faculty Spotlight - February 2025

Q&A with Dr. Matthew Smeltzer, PhD

Associate Professor of Epidemiology

1. What brought you to the U of M School of Public Health? 
   I joined the U of M School of Public Health because of the opportunities to conduct public health research in the mid-south US, where we have a large diverse population of people who can benefit from improvements in public health and healthcare delivery. In the US a lot of research is focused on the east or west coast, and I think it is important that our part of the country is represented.
   
   
2. What is the broad focus of your research? 
   I design studies and evaluate data to understand patterns of diseases, healthcare utilization, quality of healthcare delivery, and factors that can improve outcomes. I primary focus on cancer and sickle cell disease.
   
   
3. What inspired you to pursue this particular area of research? 
   I enjoy using data to understand the world with as little bias as possible. I started in Mathematics and Statistics and moved into Epidemiology a little later. I have always enjoyed applying methods and problem solving. It is rewarding to apply these techniques to identify ways to improve people’s health.
   
   
4. What is the most exciting project you are currently working on? 
   Right now I am serving on the steering committee and leading the methodology committee for the group that is developing the next version of the TNM staging system for lung cancer, thymic cancer, and mesothelioma (AJCC/UICC TNM Staging 10th Edition). We are starting a seven-year process of evaluating data from around the world to refine how thoracic cancers are staged.  This project is conducted by the International Association for Lung Cancer (IASLC) Staging and Prognostic Factors Group on behalf of the American Joint Commission on Cancer and Union for International Cancer Control.
   
   
5. How does your research impact or benefit the broader community or public health field? And how do you envision your research evolving in the next few years? 
   The 10th edition of the staging system will be used to stage all thoracic cancers around the world. We are also working with the Baptist Cancer Center Thoracic Oncology group to make sure people in the mid-south US are represented in and benefit from the latest developments in lung cancer. 
   We are also doing some interesting work in sickle cell disease in Tennessee. We are collaborating with a muti-state group sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to build and maintain state-level surveillance programs for sickle cell disease. We are evaluating newborn screening data, medical claims data, and hospital data to better understand the epidemiology, utilization, and health outcomes. The Tennessee sickle cell surveillance program is based at UofM in collaboration with Vanderbilt, University of Tennessee, and St. Jude.
   
   
6. What is the coolest training or program you've been a part of, or your favorite conference you've attended? 
   My favorite conference, which I attend every year, is the IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer which brings together multi-disciplinary lung cancer researchers around the world each year. We have a great group of international collaborators who work together on a lot of great research, centered around the IASLC.
   
   
7. What is your favorite self-authored manuscript? 
   We published a paper in 2018 in JAMA Oncology looking at the impact of the quality of lymph node sampling during lung cancer surgery on cancer stage and long-term survival.  Basically, we found that if you don’t look for cancer in the lymph nodes, the nodal staging system does not work very well. The concept is simple, but the paper made an impact on surgical guidelines. 
   Smeltzer MP, Faris NR, Ray MA, Osarogiagbon RU. Association of pathologic nodal staging quality with survival among patients with non–small cell lung cancer after resection with curative intent. JAMA Oncol. 2018: 4(1)1-8.
   
   
8. What kind of research would you like to be doing that you haven't yet had the opportunity to do? 
   We are planning a project with St. Jude Global that will apply many of the principles of sickle cell disease care that we have studied in the US to rural areas in Mozambique. I am excited to work on this project in the future.
   
   
9. Are there any publications, awards, or recognitions you would like us to include in the spotlight? 
   I have been working on an international survey evaluating the use of biomarker testing in persons with lung cancer across the world.  Although new therapies are available for people with lung cancer who have specific genetic mutations, not everyone is currently tested for the presence of these mutations. In this project we are trying to understand current practices around testing a barriers that hinder our ability to test everyone with lung cancer in a timely way.  We published the first survey in 2020 and I presented results from the recently completed second survey this fall at conferences in San Diego CA, Bogota Colombia, and Hong Kong China.
   
   Smeltzer MP, Wynes MW, Lantuejoul S, Soo R, Ramalingam SS, VarellaGarcia M, Taylor MM, Richeimer K, Wood K, Howell KE, Dalurzo ML, Felip E, Hollenbeck G, Kerr K, Kim ES, Mathias C, Pacheco J, Postmus P, Powell C, Tsuboi M, Wistuba II, Wakelee HA, Belani CP, Scagliotti GV, Hirsch FR, The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) Global Survey on Molecular Testing in Lung Cancer, J Thorac Oncol. 2020: 15(9):1434–1448.