Arjun Pennathur, MD, FACS

Dr. Pennathur is the Sampson Family Endowed Chair in Thoracic Surgical Oncology and Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He underwent his training in General Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA and the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Las Vegas, NV.  Dr. Pennathur subsequently worked as a staff surgeon at the VA / US Airforce Base Hospital. He underwent training in Surgical Critical Care at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Medical College of Georgia. He completed advanced training in thoracic oncology, lung transplantation, and minimally invasive thoracic surgery at Vanderbilt University and the University of Pittsburgh. He is board certified in General Surgery and in Surgical Critical Care by the American Board of Surgery, and in Thoracic Surgery by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.

Dr. Pennathur's clinical interests include all aspects of thoracic surgery, including thoracic malignancies and thoracic surgical critical care. Dr. Pennathur has made major contributions in thoracic surgery, in translational research, and in clinical investigations for treatment of thoracic malignancies including esophageal cancer and lung cancer. Dr. Pennathur is widely renowned for his research efforts and scholarly achievements. He has authored or coauthored nearly 150 peer-reviewed journal articles. He has also published numerous review articles, commentaries, invited manuscripts, books (including Associate Editor for Pearson’s General Thoracic Surgery) and book chapters; 160+ abstracts of which more than 30 are published. Dr. Pennathur also received an NIH award for Distinguished Accomplishments in the Biomedical Sciences.  

He is a principal investigator or co-investigator on studies actively being conducted at UPMC and plays a critical role in the development of cutting-edge strategies for optimizing the operative management of patients and improving the quality of care. Dr. Pennathur has been a principal investigator or co-investigator on numerous IRB approved protocols, and on several NIH funded (including the University of Pittsburgh Lung SPORE) and industry funded grants. He is a member of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy Program. He is currently leading trials investigating immunological approaches for the prevention and treatment of lung cancer. He is the National Study Chair for NCI funded multicenter trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of a MUC-vaccine in heavy smokers who are at risk for lung cancer.

As a faculty member Dr. Pennathur plays an integral role in teaching and mentorship of trainees at all levels, including medical students, residents and fellows. He serves as a mentor for the Department's NHLBI T32 Training Grant, where he is involved in clinical and research development of program appointees. Dr. Pennathur is also an active member of numerous academic societies including (but not limited to) the American College of Surgeons, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the American Association of Thoracic Surgery (AATS), the American Medical Association, and the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons, and serves as a referee for various prestigious scientific journals. Dr. Pennathur has held several national society leadership positions including serving as the national co-chair of the AATS Clinical Practices Standards Committee for thoracic surgery and member of the AATS Foundation Research Scholarship Committee. In addition, he served as the co-chair of the AATS Lillehei Committee, the AATS representative to the AMA and Thoracic Surgery Directors Association (TSDA) Faculty Development committee.