Harris received his M.D. from Kansas University School of Medicine. He completed his clinical training in internal medicine at the University of California-Los Angeles, Washington Veterans Administrative Hospital and the NCI. He has held positions of increasing responsibility at the NCI, and is also a Clinical Professor of Medicine and Oncology at Georgetown University School of Medicine. Harris has received numerous honors throughout his distinguished career including the Alton Ochsner Award relating Smoking and Health (American College of Physicians), Deichmann Award (International Union of Toxicology), Charles Heidelberger Award (International Society of Gastroenterological Carcinogenesis) and the Distinguished Service Medal (the highest honor of the U.S. Public Health Service), NCI Outstanding Mentor Award in 2007 and 2013, Ph.D. (Honorary) Nippon University School of Medicine, the AACR-Princess Takamatsu Award and the AACR-American Cancer Society: Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Award. Harris has published more than 500 journal articles, 142 book chapters, and 13 books, and holds more than 30 patents owned by the U.S. Government. He also serves as Editor-in-Chief for the journal, Carcinogenesis, and has held or currently holds elected offices in scholarly societies and non-profit foundations including the American Association of Cancer Research, the International Society of Differentiations, the Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology and Aspen Cancer Conference. Harris has a wide range of scientific interests and accomplishments spanning molecular genetics of human cancer to molecular epidemiology of human cancer risk. (Select links tab for Science Watch, CCR Connections Articles, two youtube videos. 

Cancer Biology, Epidemiology, Genetics and Genomics, Health Disparities, Stem Cell Biology