Kathryn Schmitz, Ph. D, MPH, is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences Division of Health Services and Behavioral Research and a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation for Cancer Institute, Cancer Control at Penn State Cancer Institute.
She is a leading researcher in exercise oncology – the use of exercise in cancer prevention, control and survivorship.
Dr. Schmitz, who has led many exercise trials and translated her work into clinical practice, has published more than 240 peer-reviewed scientific papers and has had $25 million in funding for her research since 2001.
She was the lead author of the first American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Roundtable on Exercise for Cancer Survivors, which published guidance for exercise testing and prescription for cancer survivors in July 2010.
In March 2018, Dr. Schmitz chaired an International Multidisciplinary ACSM Roundtable on Exercise and Cancer Prevention and Control, at which physicians, outpatient rehabilitation specialists, researchers and exercise professionals in the room broadly agreed that the field of exercise oncology needs to be elevated further. Dr. Schmitz’s professional mission is to determine how to do so.