About Matthew Smeltzer

Matthew P. Smeltzer, PhD, MStat, is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and University Research Professor. He is a 2019 Fellow of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Cancer. Dr. Smeltzer's primary research interests include clinical outcomes, quality of care, disease surveillance, and implementation science in cancer and sickle cell disease. His work is currently funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Smeltzer has more than 120 peer-reviewed publications, with additional research experience in childhood cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, immunology, anesthesiology, and biomedical engineering. He enjoys teaching Epidemiologic Methods, Applied Biostatistics, and training doctoral students.

Dr. Smeltzer is active in the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) and Principal Investigator of the Tennessee sickle cell disease surveillance program (SCDC) funded by the CDC. He is the quantitative lead for the Mid-South Quality of Surgical Resection (MS-QSR) and the Detecting Early Lung Cancer (DELUGE) in the Mississippi Delta cohorts. He also serves on the steering committee for the St. Jude Sickle Cell Clinical Research and Intervention Program (SCCRIP) cohort. Prior to joining the University of Memphis faculty, Dr. Smeltzer spent 11 years in the Department of Biostatistics at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and is an Accredited Professional Statistician by the American Statistical Association.

Education

• PhD, Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN
• MStat, Statistics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
• BS, Mathematics (cum laude), Harding University, Searcy, AR

Research Interests

• Cancer
• Sickle cell disease
• Implementation science
• Disease Surveillance
• Bias analysis
• Statistics for epidemiology

Recent Publications

1. Matthew P. Smeltzer, Meredith A. Ray, Nicholas R. Faris, Raymond U. Osarogiagbon. Genie Out of the Bottle: Is There a Role for Gene-Gene Interactions in Early Detection of Lung Cancer?. Journal of Thoracic Oncology. Volume 17, Issue 8, 2022; Pages 946-948. ISSN 1556-0864. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtho.2022.05.012.
2. Upal Basu Roy, Anne-Marie Baird, Andrew Ciupek, Jesme Fox, Eugene Manley, Kim Norris, Giorgio V. Scagliotti, Heather A. Wakelee, Tetsuya Mitsudomi, Russell J. Clark, Renee Arndt, Fred R. Hirsch, Paul A. Bunn, Matthew P. Smeltzer. Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Global Lung Cancer Clinical Trials: Why It Matters to People With Lung Cancer. JTO Clinical and Research Reports. Volume 3, Issue 2, 2022;100269. ISSN 2666-3643. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtocrr.2021.100269.
3. Matthew P. Smeltzer, Wei Liao, Nicholas R. Faris, Carrie Fehnel, Jordan Goss, Catherine J. Shepherd, Rodolfo Ramos, Talat Qureshi, Ayesha Mukhopadhyay, Meredith A. Ray, Raymond Uyiosa Osarogiagbon. Potential Impact of Criteria Modifications on Race and Sex Disparities in Eligibility for Lung Cancer Screening. Journal of Thoracic Oncology. Volume 18, Issue 2, 2023; Pages 158-168. ISSN 1556-0864. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtho.2022.09.220.
4. Wogksch Matthew D., Finch Emily R., Nolan Vikki G., Smeltzer Matthew P., Mzayek Fawaz, Goodenough Chelsea G., Pui Ching-Hon, Inaba Hiroto, Mulrooney Daniel A., Kaste Sue C., Brinkman Tara M., Lanctot Jennifer Q., Srivastava Deo Kumar, Jefferies John L., Armstrong Gregory T., Robison Leslie L., Hudson Melissa M., Ness Kirsten K. Energy cost of walking in obese survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia: A report from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort. Frontiers in Pediatrics,10, 2022. ISSN 2296-2360. doi.10.3389/fped.2022.976012.
5. Allison P. Plaxco, Jennifer M. Kmet, Vikki G. Nolan, Michelle A. Taylor, Matthew P. Smeltzer. Real-World Association Between mRNA Vaccination and Infection From the Omicron Strain of SARS-CoV-2: A Population-Level Analysis. AJPM Focus, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2022; 100010. ISSN 2773-0654. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.focus.2022.100010.
6. Smeltzer MP, Ray MA. Statistical considerations for outcomes in clinical research: A review of common data types and methodology. Experimental Biology and Medicine. 2022;247(9):734-742. doi:10.1177/15353702221085710
7. Matthew P. Smeltzer, Meredith A. Ray, Nicholas R. Faris, Meghan B. Meadows-Taylor, Fedoria Rugless, Courtney Berryman, Bianca Jackson, Carrie Fehnel, Alicia Pacheco, Laura McHugh, Edward T. Robbins, Kenneth D. Ward, Lisa M. Klesges, and Raymond U. Osarogiagbon. Prospective Comparative Effectiveness Trial of Multidisciplinary Lung Cancer Care Within a Community-Based Health Care System. JCO Oncology Practice 2023 19:1, e15-e24.
8. Matthew P. Smeltzer, Giorgio V. Scagliotti, Heather A. Wakelee, Tetsuya Mitsudomi, Upal Basu Roy, Russell C. Clark, Renee Arndt, Clayton D. Pruett, Karen L. Kelly, Peter Ujhazy, Melissa L. Johnson, Yesim Eralp, Carlos H. Barrios, Fabrice Barlesi, Fred R. Hirsch, Paul A. Bunn. International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Study of the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 on International Lung Cancer Clinical Trials. Journal of Thoracic Oncology. Volume 17, Issue 5, 2022; Pages 651-660. ISSN 1556-0864. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtho.2022.01.017.
9. Osarogiagbon RU, Liao W, Faris NR, Meadows-Taylor M, Fehnel C, Lane J, Williams SC, Patel AA, Akinbobola OA, Pacheco A, Epperson A, Luttrell J, McCoy D, McHugh L, Signore R, Bishop AM, Tonkin K, Optican R, Wright J, Robbins T, Ray MA, Smeltzer MP. Lung Cancer Diagnosed Through Screening, Lung Nodule, and Neither Program: A Prospective Observational Study of the Detecting Early Lung Cancer (DELUGE) in the Mississippi Delta Cohort. J Clin Oncol. 2022 Jul 1;40(19):2094-2105. doi: 10.1200/JCO.21.02496. Epub 2022 Mar 8. PMID: 35258994; PMCID: PMC9242408.
10. Meghan B. Meadows-Taylor, Nicholas R. Faris, Matthew P. Smeltzer, Meredith A. Ray, Carrie Fehnel, Olawale Akinbobola, Folabi Ariganjoye, Anita Patel, Alicia Pacheco, Anurag Mehrotra, Roy Fox, Robert Optican, Keith Tonkin, James Machin, Jeffrey Wright, Edward T. Robbins, Raymond U. Osarogiagbon. The Relative Survival Impact of Guideline-Concordant Clinical Staging and Stage-Appropriate Treatment of Potentially Curable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Chest. Volume 162, Issue 1, 2022; Pages 242-255. ISSN 0012-3692. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2022.01.046.
11. Temkin, SM, Smeltzer, MP, Dawkins, MD, Boehmer, LM, Senter, L, Black, DR, Blank, SV, Yemelyanova, A, Magliocco, AM, Finkel, MA, Moore, TE, Thaker, PH. Improving the quality of care for patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer: Program components, implementation barriers, and recommendations. Cancer. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.34023.

More Publications

• Smeltzer MP, Osarogiagbon RU.  Out of the darkness, into light: the scientific rigor of lung cancer clinical trials in the age of enlightenment. J Thorac Oncol. 2020, Jul;15(7):1110-1112.
• Smeltzer MP, Faris N, Fehnel C, Akinbobola O, Saulsberry A, Meadows-Taylor M, Pacheco A, Ray M, Osarogiagbon RU.  Impact of a Lymph Node Specimen Collection Kit on the Distribution and Survival Implications of the Proposed Revised Lung Cancer Residual Disease Classification: a Propensity-Matched Analysis. JTO Clin Res Rep. 2021, in press.
• 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. Published September 28, 2017. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2017.2993
• 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
• Mathias JG, Nolan V, Meadows-Taylor M, Robinson LA, Howell K, Gurney J, Hankins J, Wang W, Estepp J, Smeltzer MP.  A Meta-analysis of Toxicities Related to Hydroxycarbamide Dosing Strategies.  eJHaem, in press.
• Kanter J, Gibson R, Lawrence RH, Smeltzer MP, Pugh NL, Glassberg G, Masese RV, King AA, Calhoun C, Hankins JS, Treadwell M. Perceptions of US Adolescents and Adults with Sickle Cell Disease on their Quality of Care. JAMA Netw Open. 2020 May 1;3(5):e206016. 
• Osarogiagbon RU, Faris NR, Stevens W, Fehnel C, Houston-Harris C, Ojeabulu P, Akinbobola O, Lee YS, Ray MA, Smeltzer MP.  Beyond Margin Status: Population-Based Validation of the Proposed IASLC Residual Tumor Classification Re-categorization. J Thorac Oncol. 2020 Mar;15(3):371-382.
• Osarogiagbon R, Lee YS, Faris NR, Ray M, Ojeabulu P, Smeltzer MP.    Invasive Mediastinal Staging for Resected Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in a Population-Based Cohort. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2019 May 2. pii: S0022-5223(19)30968-7.
• Smeltzer MP, Lin CC, Kong FM , Jemal A, and Osarogiagbon RU. Survival Impact of Post-Operative Therapy Modalities According to Margin Status in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients in the United States. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2017 Apr 4. pBi W, Li Y, Smeltzer MP, Gao G, Zhao S, Lin X, Kang G. STEPS: An Efficient Prospective Likelihood Approach to Genetic Variant Association analyses of Secondary Traits in Extreme Phenotype Sequencing, Biostatistics. 2018 Jul 11. doi: 10.1093/biostatistics/kxy030.ii: S0022-5223(17)30604-9.
• Smeltzer MP, Faris NR, Ray MA, Fehnel C, Houston-Harris C, Ojeabulu P, Akinbobola O, Lee YS, Meadows M, Signore S, Wiggins L, Talton D, Owen E, Deese LE, Eubanks R, Wolf BA, Levy P, Robbins ET, Osarogiagbon RU. Survival before and after direct surgical quality feedback in a population-based lung cancer cohort. Ann Thorac Surg. 2018 Dec 27. pii: S0003-4975(18)31859-9.
• Smeltzer MP, Faris N, Yu X, Spencer D, Berry A, Sales E, Finch-Cruz C, Osarogiagbon RO. The Survival Impact of Missed Lymph Node Metastasis in Surgically Resected Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Ann Thorac Surg. 2016 Aug;102(2):448-53.
• Smeltzer MP, Rugless F, Jackson B, Foust C, Faris NR, Ray M, Meadows M, Patel A, Roark K, Kedia S, DeBon M, Crossley F, Oliver G, McHugh L, Hastings W, Osborne O, Osborne J, Ill T, Ill M, Jones W, Lee HK, Signore RS, Fox R, Li J, Robbins ET, Ward KD, Klesges LM, Osarogiagbon R. Pragmatic Trial of a Multidisciplinary Lung Cancer Care Model in a Community Healthcare Setting: Study Design, Implementation Evaluation, and Baseline Clinical Results. Transl Lung Cancer Res. 2018 Feb;7(1):88-102. doi: 10.21037/tlcr.2018.01.02.
• Smeltzer MP, Nolan VG, Yu X, Nottage KA, Davis B, Yang Y, Wang WC, Gurney JG, Hankins JS. The Birth Prevalence of Sickle Cell Trait and Sickle Cell Disease in Shelby County, TN. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2016 Jun;63(6):1054-9.
• Smeltzer MP, Nolan VG, Yu X, Nottage KA, Wang WC, Hankins JS, Gurney JG. The Effects of Distance from an Urban Sickle Cell Center on Routine Healthcare Management and Rates of Hospitalization. Hemoglobin, 2015 Sep 15:1-6. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 26372097
• Estepp JH, Smeltzer MP, Kang G, Li C, Wang WC, Abrams C, Aygun B, Ware RE, Nottage K, Hankins JS. A Clinically Meaningful Fetal Hemoglobin Threshold for Children with Sickle Cell Anemia During Hydroxyurea Therapy. Am J Hematol. 2017 Dec;92(12):1333-1339.
• Bi W, Li Y, Smeltzer MP, Gao G, Zhao S, Lin X, Kang G. STEPS: An Efficient Prospective Likelihood Approach to Genetic Variant Association analyses of Secondary Traits in Extreme Phenotype Sequencing, Biostatistics. 2018 Jul 11. doi: 10.1093/biostatistics/kxy030.
• Guy CS, Vignali KM, Temirov J, Bettini ML, Overacre AE, Smeltzer MP, Zhang H, Huppa JB, Tsai YH, Lobry C, Xie J, Dempsey PJ, Crawford HC, Aifantis I, Davis MM, Vignali DA. Distinct TCR signaling pathways drive proliferation and cytokine production in T cells. Nature immunology. Mar 2013;14(3):262-270