About Dr. Skinner
Heath D. Skinner, MD, PhD, is an associate professor at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, specializing in the study and treatment of head and neck and lung cancer. Dr. Skinner maintains an active, translational research laboratory focused upon identifying novel, clinically targetable biomarkers of resistance to radiation. His group utilizes "big data" approaches to clinical specimens as well as in vivo screening techniques to generate novel targets for study. These targets are then further investigated in vitro, to elicit insights regarding mechanisms of radioresistance. Dr. Skinner's research is designed to generate insights that led to the rational design of clinical trials using agents that are currently under investigation to minimize the time from bench to bedside.
Dr. Skinner is board-certified in radiation oncology. He completed a combined MD/PhD program at West Virginia University. During that time, Dr. Skinner published 6 manuscripts, received several medical and graduate school-wide awards and a prestigious Scholar-in-Training Award from AACR for his work. Upon completion of medical school, he began a combined internship and residency in radiation oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC). During his residency, Dr. Skinner was awarded a highly competitive research grant from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and, in addition, published multiple manuscripts, including a first author publication in Clinical Cancer Research. Specifically, his work focused upon targeting specific classes of TP53 mutation to improve response to radiation, using the common diabetes drug metformin. These studies, along with the work of other researchers, directly led to multiple clinical trials combining radiation with metformin, including two led by Dr. Skinner - NCT02285855 and NRG-LU001. The latter trial, of which Dr. Skinner was one of two PIs, was an international, multi-institutional, randomized trial through the NRG, which completed accrual in late 2016.