Morten Quist

Morten Quist is Associate Professor and Research Physiotherapist at the University Hospital of Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet. He holds a PhD in Health Sciences and a BSc in Physiotherapy from the University of Copenhagen.

For the past 25 years, he has pioneered clinical exercise-based rehabilitation for people living with cancer, with primary focus on exercise, prehabilitation and rehabilitation in lung cancer. His work bridges research, clinical care, patient advocacy and voluntary engagement – always with patient wellbeing at the centre.

Dr Quist served as a Board Member of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) from 2021 to 2025 and has been active in the IASLC Committee of Nurses and Allied Health Professionals since 2018, currently serving as Deputy Chair (2025–2027). He is the co-founder of IREX-LUNG (International Research Exercise in Lung Cancer), established under IASLC, where he has played a key role in shaping its development.

He is also a long-standing member of the Danish Lung Cancer Group (Board of Directors since 2017), where he co-led the development of the national guidelines on physical exercise for people with lung cancer. Beyond research and guidelines, he is deeply engaged in patient communities: he has been actively involved with the Danish Lung Cancer Patient Association, co-founded and advised two national exercise communities for cancer survivors (‘Proof of Life’ for young adults and ‘PACT’ for adults), and continues to train people with cancer in his spare time.

Since 2008, he has led the EXHALE programme, a structured exercise rehabilitation initiative, which has been successfully implemented into routine lung cancer care.

His international collaborations span leading centres across Denmark, Europe, North America and Australia. His work includes large-scale randomised controlled trials (e.g. EXHALE, PROLUCA), national guideline development and the implementation of exercise programmes across the cancer continuum, from prehabilitation to rehabilitation in advanced disease.

Throughout his career, Dr Quist’s central focus has been the wellbeing, quality of life and empowerment of individuals, both through evidence-based exercise oncology interventions and by building sustainable communities where people living with cancer support each other through physical activity.