Tom Smith, MD

Dr. Tom Smith is a medical oncologist and palliative care specialist with a lifelong interest in better symptom management, open and accurate communication, and improving access to high quality affordable care. He is the Director of Palliative Medicine for Johns Hopkins Medicine, charged with integrating palliative care into all the Johns Hopkins venues. The hospital wide Palliative Care consult service sees over 1850 patients a year, runs multiple outpatient clinics, and has a growing research agenda with “Scrambler Therapy” for pain (Avon Foundation), peri-operative palliative care (PCORI), integrated palliative care for patients on Phase I drug trials (RO1), and communication. He used an ACS grant to study "ABH" gel for nausea, which led to the AAHPM Choosing Wisely statement and removal from most hospice formularies.

Dr. Smith has a long track record of starting innovative programs with concurrent evaluation of their impact on care and costs, including the Virginia Rural Cancer Outreach Program, the Thomas Palliative Care Program, the Virginia Initiative on Palliative Care, and the Rural Palliative Care Program, among others. They train 3-5 adult and pediatric HPM fellows yearly.

Danielle J. Doberman, MD

Dr. Danielle J. Doberman is an Assistant Professor in the Section of Palliative Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and is the Medical Director of Palliative Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. She is also a practicing clinician in Baltimore, MD, with over a decade of specialized experience in Geriatrics and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She currently oversees the clinical activity of a multidisciplinary team dedicated to the care of patients in both the Weinberg Cancer pavilion and the main Hopkins hospital. She has special interests in medical education and health care planning for those with dementia. She serves as Program Director for the Palliative Medicine Fellowship at Johns Hopkins, and is Co-Director for the Palliative Care, Topics in Interdisciplinary Medicine course at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Corey Tapper, MD

Dr. Corey Tapper joined Johns Hopkins in 2019 and serves as the Associate Program Director of the Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship. He is originally from Brooklyn, NY. He received his medical degree from Albany Medical College. He subsequently completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, during which time he also served as Chief Resident. He then completed a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at UPMC in Pittsburgh, PA. During his time in Pittsburgh, he also achieved an MS in Medical Education. His interests lie in providing compassionate and holistic care for those with serious illness. He is also enthusiastic about graduate medical education with a focus on curriculum development and teaching communication skills. His current focus is on developing and evaluating a professional development educational series for the Section of Palliative Medicine.

Renee Boss, MD, MHS

Dr. Renee Boss is the Rembrandt Foundation Professor of Pediatric Palliative Care, Associate Professor of Neonatology, and Core Faculty at the Johns Hopkins Berman Bioethics Institute. Her research targets parent-clinician communication in the context of serious illness in children. She leads the multicenter Pediatric Chronic Critical Illness Collaborative, is on the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Section on Hospice and Palliative Medicine, is Co-Director of the Hecht-Levi Fellowship in Bioethics and Assistant Program Director of the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship. With funding from the National Palliative Care Research Center, she has recently led the creation of a web-based decision tool for families facing choices about chronic home ventilation.