Affiliations: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA

Areas of specialization: exercise oncology, breast cancer lymphedema, cancer survivorship

Dr. Schmitz is professor in the University of Pittsburgh Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology. She is a leading researcher in exercise oncology and uses exercise in cancer prevention, control, and survivorship. She has led many exercise trials, translated her work into clinical practice, published approximately 300 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and had $30 million in funding for her research since 2001. Dr. Schmitz 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. She chaired an International Multidisciplinary ACSM Roundtable on Exercise and Cancer Prevention and Control in March 2018, where 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.