UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center Magazine Fall 2015 | Page 10

center profile
continued from page 15

Dr. Bhatia is
working closely
with the Cancer
Center and
Children’s of
Alabama to
establish a
multidisciplinary
program in
cancer outcomes
research.

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U A B

As a child growing up in India, Smita Bhatia,
M.D., M.P.H., developed an interest in medicine at
an early age. That interest, particularly in oncology,
was sparked by the death of the son of her father’s
colleague from a bone tumor when Dr. Bhatia was
just seven years old.
Her interest in medicine never waned, and Dr.
Bhatia would go on to attend the renowned All India
Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi where she
received her medical degree. While there, she also
discovered the field that would define much of her
career – pediatrics.
“As I was pursuing my medical degree, I
discovered my love for children,” Dr. Bhatia says.
“Children are relatively uncomplicated. Their attitude
toward life is simple and fresh. I really enjoy that.”
Dr. Bhatia’s interest in both pediatrics and cancer
led her to choosing pediatric oncology as her specialty
moving forward in her post-graduate career. Medical
school also introduced her to her husband of nearly
30 years, Ravi Bhatia, M.D., who was also studying
to become a doctor. The two shared a class together,
and as Dr. Ravi Bhatia recalls, they “met around the
dissection table.” The pair married and Dr. Bhatia
gave birth to the first of their two daughters while
still in India. The Bhatias’ lives were just beginning,
but bigger things would soon be calling.

A Culture Shock
One of those bigger things was the United States.
In 1989, Dr. Ravi Bhatia applied for and accepted a
fellowship position in hematology-oncology at the
University of Minnesota. It was a great opportunity,
and the Bhatias made the decision to make the nearly
8,000-mile move from India to Minneapolis. Going
from India to the American Midwest was a challenge
for Dr. Bhatia.
“It was a huge culture shock,” she recalls.
“Just the little things, like driving on the ‘wrong’
side of the road and using the ATM, to weathering
the Minnesota winter, which was quite hard in the
beginning. But we were young, and it was
an adventure.”

C O M P R E H E N S I V E

C A N C E R

C E N T E R

While her husband continued his training, Dr.
Bhatia waited until their new home life was more
established before joining the workforce herself. She,
too, would eventually join the faculty at the University
of Minnesota, where she completed a fellowship in
pediatric hematology-oncology and bone marrow
transplant. The Bhatias finished their training and
joined the faculty at Minnesota, but after seven years,
the time came for another move – from the heavy
snow of Minnesota to the sunny skies of California.
“We wanted an institution that offered challenging
positions for both of us, and we found that at City of
Hope in Los Angeles,” says Dr. Bhatia, who joined
the faculty there in 1996 as an assistant professor of
pediatric hematology-oncology. Both Drs. Bhatia
would rise through the ranks at City of Hope, with
Dr. Smita Bhatia eventually becoming a professor
and chair of the Department of Population Sciences,
which she established, as well as co-leader of the
Cancer Control and Population Sciences Program.
While there, she made significant scientific
contributions toward identifying chronic health
issues among cancer survivors. She established
multidisciplinary survivorship clinics, providing
cancer survivors with state-of-the-art comprehensive
follow-up care. She also served as the associate chair
for the Children’s Oncology Group, coordinating
survivorship research across 200 pediatric oncology
institutions, and in 2006, she was elected to
membership in the American Society for Clinical
Investigation in recognition of meritorious and
outstanding contributions as a physician-scientist.

New Opportunities
After 18 years, and raising their two children,
the Bhatias felt that the time had come for them to
leave City of Hope to pursue other opportunities.
“Because we had been at a free-standing cancer center
for so long, we were missing the teaching component
of an academic medical center,” Dr. Bhatia says.
That feeling drove the Bhatias to explore
opportunities in the university setting, which
eventually led them to UAB where they were

recruited by UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center
director Ed Partridge, M.D., among several other
UAB officials. After several visits, both Drs. Bhatia
were successfully recruited to the Cancer Center,
with their appointments effective January 1, 2015.
While Dr. Ravi Bhatia serves as director of the
UAB Division of Hematology-Oncology and deputy
director of the Cancer Center, Dr. Smita Bhatia serves
in the newly created position of associate director
of outcomes research for the Cancer Center. She
also holds new positions as director of the Institute
for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship in the UAB
School of Medicine and vice chair for outcomes in the
Department of Pediatrics.
As such, Dr. Bhatia is working closely with the
Cancer Center and Children’s of Alabama to establish
a multidisciplinary program in cancer outcomes
research, much like she did at City of Hope. Her goal,
she says, is to create the world’s best cancer outcome
center at UAB by bringing together specialists from
multiple disciplines in both pediatric and adult
medicine into one team with the common goal of
improving cancer outcomes.
Dr. Bhatia defines cancer outcomes as a
measurable entity that shows how well one is
performing with that particular disease. For example,
outcomes in childhood leukemia would show the
survival rate for children who have been diagnosed
with leukemia after one, five or 10 years of treatment.
Outcomes research also explores how the short- and
long-term health of cancer survivors compares to
those with normal health backgrounds.
That type of research was the driving force behind
the Taking on Life after Cancer (TLC) Clinic,
established by UAB and Children’s in 2006, which
sees patients after they have completed treatments
to educate them about the long-term risks associated
with their therapies. Dr. Bhatia is taking an active
role with the TLC Clinic and hopes to expand it
even further.

“Rather than seeing cancer survivors only once
after treatment, we want to bring them back on
an annual basis for life to monitor them for longterm consequences,” Dr. Bhatia says. “We hope to
understand the chronic health conditions experienced
through the entire lifespan of cancer survivors. I
would want to identify those survivors at the highest
risk for morbidity, so that we can institute targeted
interventions.”

Looking Ahead
Since officially joining the UAB faculty in January,
Dr. Bhatia’s first year has been a whirlwind of activity
– transitioning research protocols from City of Hope
to UAB, initiating new research studies, launching a
clinical practice, recruiting new faculty, and meetings
– lots of meetings.
“There are very few days where I don’t have wallto-wall meetings,” she says. “I’m trying to be more
disciplined so I can at least devote the mornings to my
own writing and research and then spend the rest of
the day with meetings.”
In what little spare time she does have, Dr.
Bhatia enjoys knitting, which she finds calming and
something she can do while reading or watching
television. She says that she does try to take a break to
read or watch television every night. “I’m not a binge
watcher because I can’t indulge in endless hours of
TV watching, but I like to have the whole season of
something waiting for me rather than having to wait
every week for the next episode,” she says.
So far, Dr. Bhatia is enjoying her new life in
Birmingham and sees great things ahead. “It’s been
a beautiful transition – just amazing,” she says.
“There hasn’t been a single day where I’ve woken
up and thought ‘What have I done?’ Everyone has
been extremely helpful and welcoming. It’s been very
energizing, and I’m looking forward to a bright future
here at UAB.”

# K N O W U A B C C C

•

“It’s been very
energizing, and
I’m looking
forward to a
bright future
here at UAB.”

U A B . E D U / C A N C E R

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