POTSDAM, NY – St. Lawrence Health is pleased to announce the return of dual board certified Oncologist Velmalia Matthews-Smith, MD, to the Center for Cancer Care at Canton-Potsdam Hospital, 50 Leroy Street, Potsdam.
Dr. Matthews-Smith is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in both Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology. She earned her medical degrees from Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA; and the University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, where she also finished a residency in Internal Medicine.
She completed fellowship training in Hematology/Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, where she was named Most Outstanding Clinician, and was the recipient of the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award. She performed research on non-small cell lung cancers in African-Americans, a study funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dr. Matthews-Smith encourages her patients and their families to call her Dr. Vel; she is deeply committed to each of them, and said she sees how St. Lawrence Health is also committed to the wellness of the communities it serves.
“In keeping with that vision, the need for a comprehensive community-based cancer program is a high priority,” she said. “Having grown up in a rural community, I understand the challenges of delivering excellent health care to underserved populations. I look forward to rejoining this team in order to achieve the goal of building a top notch cancer program focused on delivering personalized cancer care to each patient we serve.”
Dr. Matthews-Smith is a member of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, the American Medical Association, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. She has served as an Assistant Professor at Wake Forest Baptist Health, written a number of publications, given presentations, and conducted research.
She specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer using chemotherapy, and medically based interventions. Her practice focuses on medical oncology, including treatment of cancers common to the North Country, such as cancer of the lung, colon, and breast.
Learn more about Dr. Matthews-Smith by visiting https://stlawrencehealthsystem.org/provider-directory/m/matthewssmith-velmalia, and learn more about the services provided through the Center for Cancer Care by calling 315.261.5890, or visit https://stlawrencehealthsystem.org/services/cancer.
