Dr. Thomas W. Smith, chief of cardiovascular medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, died on Sunday at his home in Weston, Mass. He was 60. The cause was mesothelioma, a cancer of a lining in the chest or abdomen, hospital officials said. Dr. Smith, who was also a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, helped bring together advances in basic science and clinical cardiology, said Dr. George Thibault, chief medical officer of the hospital. In his research, Dr. Smith shed light on the biochemistry involved in controlling the contraction of normal and failing hearts. He also helped develop a way to measure concentrations of two widely used heart drugs, digoxin and digitoxin, in the blood. He was born in Akron, Ohio, and graduated from Harvard College in 1958 and Harvard Medical School in 1965. He trained at Massachusetts General Hospital and in 1974 became chief of cardiovascular medicine at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, now Brigham and Women's Hospital. He was a member of the board of the American Heart Association and chairman of its research program and evaluation committee. He received numerous honors, including the association's Distinguished Achievement Award. He is survived by his wife, Sherley, of Weston; two daughters, Julia Nelligan of West Baldwin, Me., and Allison Smith of Boston; a son, Geoffrey, of New York City; a sister, Suzanne Mann of Akron, and three grandchildren.