Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH

Summary

Dr. Schmitz serves UPMC Hillman Cancer Center as the associate director of population sciences and founding director of the UPMC Moving Through Cancer Program.  She is an exercise oncology researcher. Her focuses on large clinical trials related to physical activity and cancer, across the cancer control continuum, from primary prevention to addressing the needs of advanced cancer patients. The central mission of her work is to make exercise standard of care in oncology. Therefore, in addition to the efficacy trials her lab conducts, she is also actively involved in national and international efforts related to implementation of exercise for people living with and beyond cancer. UPMC Hillman Cancer Center is a vibrant community of science with an enormous network, which forms a tremendous platform from which to conduct both efficacy and implementation trials. The spirit of entrepreneurism at UPMC Hillman allows innovation in keeping with her central mission. Dr. Schmitz currently leads 3 large NIH funded trials ranging from primary prevention to advanced cancer patients, all with an exercise oncology focus. In her role as leader of the exercise oncology initiative, her goal is to partner with the clinicians of UPMC Hillman to discern the best ways to ensure that all cancer patients are informed about the benefits of exercise, supported to become active, and referred to appropriate resources (to include outpatient rehabilitation).  

Dr. Schmitz's work has appeared in JAMA, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA Oncology, JNCI, and JCO, among other prestigious journals. She is the lead author on the first exercise guidelines for cancer patients and survivors from 2010, and senior author on the update from 2019.  She has won numerous prestigious scientific awards, among them the Citation Award from the American College of Sports Medicine, the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society of Behavioral Medicine, and the President’s Council on Fitness Lifetime Achievement Award.