Advisory Committee

Sharon Gentry, MSN, RN, HON-ONN-CG, AOCN, CBCN, is the program director, Academy of Oncology Nurse and Patient Navigators (AONN+) at The Lynx Group in Cranbury, N.J.  She serves as a leader for the AONN+ organization, guiding and directing the organization based on agreed-upon strategic plans, goals, and objectives that the organization—with administrative support from The Lynx Group—intends to achieve in the short term and long-term. Gentry oversees the AONN+ Leadership Council and local navigation networks.

She travels nationally, lecturing on the navigation concept in healthcare, and has published numerous articles and chapters on the subject. Gentry is on the editorial board for the Journal of Oncology Navigation & Survivorship, CONQUER: the patient voice, and The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA.

On the local level, Gentry is a Trellis Supportive Care Board Member and participates in its Professional Advisory Committee, and she is an active member of the North Carolina Piedmont Triad Local Navigation Network and Piedmont Triad Oncology Nursing Society. She obtained her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in nursing from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill and UNC Greensboro, respectively.

Sandra Kurtin, PhD, ANP-C, AOCN, is a hematology/oncology nurse practitioner at the University of Arizona Cancer Center and an assistant professor of clinical medicine and adjunct clinical assistant professor of nursing at the Univrsity of Arizona’s College of Medicine. With over 30 years of experience in advanced practice, her oncology practice focuses on benign and malignant hematological disorders. Her research focuses on health technology engagement, communicative health literacy, and health self-management among older adult cancer survivors, as well as practice transformation to achieve best practice.  

Dr Kurtin is a founding board member and the immediate past president of the Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology (APSHO), as well as a member of American Society of Hematology (ASH), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), and Oncology Nursing Society (ONS). In addition, she is a member of the executive committee, board of directors and co-chair of the Nursing Leadership Board for the MDS Foundation. She also serves on the Hematology Board for the American Board of Internal Medicine. In addition to these accolades, she has been an associate editor for The Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology since its inception and an editorial board member for JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, ASH News, The Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, and the ASCO People Living with Cancer website. She has presented numerous regional, national, and international lectures on oncology-related topics and has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals. 

Dr Kurtin earned her BSN and MS in oncology nursing, her post-graduate certification in geriatric and adult practice, and her PhD in nursing at the University of Arizona. She is also an inaugural Fellow of Advanced Practice in Oncology (FAPO).

Cardinale B. Smith, MD, PhD is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology and the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Associate Director for Community, Outreach and Engagement in the Tisch Cancer Institute and the Chief Quality Officer for Cancer Services, Tisch Cancer Center. She is a medical oncologist and palliative care physician whose clinical practice is focused on lung cancer and palliative care. Her research interests focus on doctor-patient communication, evaluating treatment disparities in cancer care, determinants of cancer patients’ quality of care, characterizing barriers to optimal cancer and palliative care and developing approaches to eliminating those barriers among racial and ethnic minorities. Dr. Smith is a 2013 recipient of a mentored research scholar grant from the American Cancer Society to evaluate determinants of disparities in the utilization of palliative care among patients with lung cancer. She was a co-investigator on a Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute grant to teach and enable goals of care conversations among oncologists. Additionally, she is the recipient Sojourn’s Scholar Leadership Grant and an R01 from the National Cancer Institute to evaluate the role of implicit bias among oncologists on minority cancer patient outcomes. Dr. Smith has had numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals, and in 2015 was named one of the Top 40 Inspirational Leaders under 40 by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.