Dr. Steven B. Chinn, MD, MPH, FACS, is an Associate Professor (with tenure) in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Hillman Cancer Center. He is the Co-Director of the Hillman Cancer Center Head & Neck Cancer Program and Director of Research and Clinical Operations for the Computational Pathology & AI Center of Excellence (CPACE) at the University of Pittsburgh. A fellowship‑trained head and neck oncologic and microvascular reconstructive surgeon, Dr. Chinn integrates high‑volume complex surgical practice with multi-disciplinary care and a translational research program that merges clinical trials, computational spatial analysis with artificial intelligence, and multi‑omic profiling to individualize therapy and improve outcomes for patients with head and neck cancers and tumors. Nationally and internationally, Dr. Chinn is an active leader within clinical trial development and translational research, guiding protocol development and scientific prioritization. Through these roles and his own investigator‑initiated studies, he has led multicenter phase II/III trials that integrate advanced imaging, response‑adapted surgery, and biomarker‑driven patient selection.
- Board Certification: American Board of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery
- Clinical fellowship, Plastics/Microvascular Reconstructive Surgery, MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Clinical fellowship, Head & Neck Surgical Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center
- NIH‑funded T32 Post‑Doctoral Research Fellowship (Cancer Biology), University of Michigan
- Surgical Residency, Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, University of Michigan
- MPH, Molecular Epidemiology (with Human Genetics focus), University of Michigan
- MD, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California
Education & Training
Tumor Hypoxia and CD8(+) T-Cell Infiltration in Patients With Advanced Laryngeal Cancer. Smith JD, Gensterblum-Miller E, Forner DWA, Yalamanchi P, Buchakjian MR, Chinn SB, Shuman AG, Casper KA, Malloy KM, Stucken CL, Mclean SA, Mierzwa ML, Shah J, Swiecicki PL, Worden FP, Prince MEP, Spector ME, Brenner JC, Heft Neal ME. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2025 May 5. doi: 10.1002/ohn.1291. PMID: 40323140.
Parotidectomy Trends Toward Outpatient for Benign Disease. Prince ADP, Oslin K, Smith JD, Hershey E, Chionis L, Allevato M, Chinn SB, Prince MEP. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2025 Mar;172(3):905-912. doi: 10.1002/ohn.1061. Epub 2024 Nov 16. PubMed PMID: 39550622; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11844334.
Patient-Initiated Communication After Parotidectomy. Prince ADP, Oslin K, Forner D, Smith JD, Hershey E, Chionis L, Allevato M, Prince MEP, Chinn SB. Laryngoscope. 2025 Mar;135(3):1105-1112. doi: 10.1002/lary.31852. Epub 2024 Oct 17. PubMed PMID: 39415645; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11830962.
Endoscope-Assisted Transcervical Resection of Parapharyngeal Space Tumors. Smith JD, Chinn SB, Sridharan S, Contrera KJ, Heft-Neal ME, Spector ME. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2025 Jan;172(1):162-166. doi: 10.1002/ohn.976. Epub 2024 Oct 1. PubMed PMID: 39353143; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11697518.
Oral cavity obliteration is a novel predictor of functional outcomes after glossectomy reconstruction. Heft Neal ME, Smith JD, Lyden TH, Chanowski EJP, Morrison RJ, Contrera K, Sridharan S, Chinn SB, Chepeha DB, Spector ME. Oral Oncol. 2024 Dec;159:107058. doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2024.107058. Epub 2024 Oct 7. PubMed PMID: 39378611.
Dr. Chinn’s laboratory integrates digital pathology, computational spatial analysis, and multi‑omic profiling to unravel how the tumor microenvironment (TME), cancer plasticity, and host–tumor spatial interactions drive treatment resistance and metastasis in head and neck cancer. Leveraging AI‑based whole‑slide classifiers, single‑cell and spatial transcriptomics, and integrative genomics, his team maps different areas within the tumor to better understand how cancer cells interact with their surroundings to identify novel methods to block immune escape, metastasis, and therapeutic failure, as well as better predict outcomes to therapy to individualize treatment. These discoveries feed directly into the clinical trial portfolio he leads within NRG and at Hillman Cancer Center, where real‑time pathomics and liquid‑biopsy readouts are being tested as predictive biomarkers for response‑adapted chemo‑immunotherapy and surgical de‑escalation. The overarching goal is to democratize advanced pathomics for real‑time decision support and to translate multi‑modal discoveries into prospective clinical trials led through the Hillman Cancer Center.
U01 DE033330 – Advancing On‑Slide and Optical Biopsy Tools to Detect High‑Risk Oral Premalignancy MPI 2023‑2028
Pembrolizumab + Dabrafenib + Trametinib as Neoadjuvant Strategy in BRAF‑Mutated Thyroid Cancer PI 2022‑2027
R01 DE031951 – Engineered Nano‑Formulations for STING Activation Co‑I 2022‑2027
R01 CA250214 – Downstream Effects of HPV Integration on Survival/Metastasis in OPSCC Co‑I 2020‑2025
R01 DE026728 – Restoring the Immunogenicity of Head & Neck Cancer Co‑I 2018‑2028
Selected Completed / Career‑Development Grants
K08 CA226350 Integrated Analysis of Germline and Somatic Mutations in Young, Low‑Risk vs High‑Risk Oral Cavity Cancer (NCI Mentored Clinician‑Scientist Award) PI 09/2018 – 08/2022 (completed)
MCubed Seed Grant – Precision Therapy for HPV‑Positive Head & Neck Cancer (Co‑PI, 2019‑2021, $60 k)
MICHR KL2 Career Development Award (PI, 2017‑2019, $293 k)