Kerry Courneya

Kerry Stephen Courneya (born 1963) is a Canadian kinesiologist. As a Full Professor and Canada Research Chair in Physical Activity and Cancer at the University of Alberta, his research focuses on physical activity and cancer survivorship.
Early life and education.
Courneya was born in 1963. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education from the University of Western Ontario in 1987 and then completed his Master's degree in Physical Education there in 1989. He then received his PhD in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois.
Career.
Upon completing his formal education, Courneya spent five years teaching at the University of Calgary before accepting a similar position at the University of Alberta (U of A) in 1997. As a kinesiologist at U of A, Courneya received funding to run three separate clinical trials at the same time to study cancer patients reactions to exercise in therapy. One of his clinics involved trying to determine whether weight training may be of benefit to patients undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. He was among the first researchers to study the field of exercise oncology and demonstrated that physical activity is a safe and effective method for improving fitness. He was granted a Canada Research Chair (CRC) in 2004 to fund and continue his research in the field.
In 2007, Courneya established the CARE trial, a randomized controlled trial of combined aerobic and resistance exercise in breast cancer survivors receiving chemotherapy. Following this, Courneya published the findings of his Healthy Exercise for Lymphoma Patients (HELP) trial which found that a regimen of aerobic exercise training produced significant improvements in physical functioning and overall quality of life benefits in patients with lymphoma. In addition to these two local trials, Courneya also co-led the Colon Health and Life-Long Exercise Change (Challenge) trial, a multi-national trial involving participants in Canada and Australia. As a result of his research, Courneya and Christine Friedenreich of Alberta Health Services received a $2.5 million team grant over five years from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to conduct a series of five large research projects to probe the impacts of physical activity on breast cancer. 
Courneya's CRC in Physical Activity and Cancer was renewed in 2011 for another seven years and he received the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology's 2012 Award for Research Excellence for his significant contribution to psychosocial oncology research in Canada. In the first year of his renewed CRC, Courneya began the Alberta moving beyond breast cancer (AMBER) cohort study, a prospective study of physical activity and health-related fitness in breast cancer survivors.
Courneya was renewed as a CRC in Physical Activity and Cancer in 2018. Following this, he received a CIHR Foundation Grant to fund Courneya's series of studies to determine if exercise can lower the risk of cancer recurring and improve the effects of treatment and overall survival. Courneya was named the winner of the 2019 Manulife Prize as a "trailblazing researcher who put exercise front and centre in cancer treatment." He was also the co-recipient of the Canadian Cancer Society's O.Harold Warwick Prize for his outstanding achievement in cancer control research.