Dr. Jay Harness, a pioneering breast cancer surgeon and Arizona ’65 graduate, has dedicated over four decades to advancing cancer care. Early in his career, he helped establish the first multidisciplinary breast cancer treatment team at the University of Michigan, a model now standard worldwide. He later developed similar programs in Massachusetts and California, promoted pre- and intraoperative ultrasound, and authored books on innovative treatments.
In recent years, Harness has focused on Exercise Oncology—integrating personalized exercise into cancer care. Inspired by cancer survivor and trainer Andrea Leonard, he explored research showing exercise improves chemotherapy tolerance, reduces side effects like nausea, anxiety, and depression, and can lower recurrence and mortality rates. In breast cancer specifically, 30 minutes of aerobic activity five times a week plus resistance training twice a week has been shown to reduce recurrence risk and improve survival. Exercise also decreases the likelihood of dying from other causes, such as cardiovascular disease, by 30–40%.
As Chief Medical Officer of Maple Tree Cancer Alliance, Harness advocates for exercise to become a standard part of cancer treatment in the U.S., like it is in Australia. He supports efforts by medical organizations, including the American Cancer Society, to create insurance billing codes for prescribed exercise, which could drive widespread adoption. Beyond clinical work, he’s developing a documentary series and launched the educational site CancerFitness.org to raise awareness. Harness connects this mission to Sigma Phi Epsilon’s “Sound Mind, Sound Body” philosophy, noting that healthy lifestyles can significantly reduce disease burden nationwide.
See the recently published article about Dr. Harness in the Sigma Phi Epsilon National Journal.
