Dr. Jamie S. Ostroff is a clinical health psychologist with expertise in helping patients and their families cope with the challenges of cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship.  She has a strong interest in working with patients who have been diagnosed with tobacco-related cancers, and serves as the psychological liaison to the Thoracic Service and to the Head and Neck Disease Management Team.

As the Director of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Tobacco Treatment Program, she works with a team of colleagues dedicated to promoting smoking cessation among cancer patients, their families, and individuals at risk for cancer and other chronic medical conditions.

Dr. Ostroff also serves as Director of the Psycho-Oncology Research Training Program and is strongly committed to training new investigators in psycho-oncology. She serves on many academic and national committees aimed at improving cancer prevention, early detection, and care.

Tobacco Treatment Program

Tobacco use can lead to serious health problems, including cancer of the lungs, throat, and head and neck. Since the mid-1990s, Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Tobacco Treatment Program has helped thousands of individuals stop using tobacco products.

Our team of tobacco treatment experts provides assistance to those diagnosed with cancer, people who have never had cancer, and cancer survivors. Our program is open to everyone. We frequently work with physicians in the community to set up customized tobacco cessation plans for patients concerned about the effect of tobacco on their health.

For people who have been diagnosed with cancer — even if the cancer is not tobacco related — quitting can help to lessen the risk of complications during surgery, speed recovery from an operation, lessen the risk for side effects, improve the response to chemotherapy and radiation, and possibly enable you to live longer. Among the other potential benefits, quitting has also been shown to lower the risk of cancer returning and the development of new cancers.

As a cancer center team, we are knowledgeable about the unique concerns and challenges of people with cancer. And while people with cancer are actually among the most successful at quitting, we understand that it is hard — especially as you struggle to cope with the stress of a serious illness.

We are here to help. Please consider supporting our research. Thank you.