John H. Shin, MD, MBA
Neurosurgery
Accepting new patients
Sees patients age 18 and up
Penn Spine Center Pennsylvania Hospital
View 1 additional location
Make an appointmentCall 800-789-7366
Penn Medicine Provider

About me

  • Director, Penn Spine Center
  • Division Head, Spine and Peripheral Nerve
  • Guggenheim Family Thomas W. Langfitt, M.D. Professor

I am a neurosurgeon specializing in spinal reconstruction surgery for scoliosis deformities and spinal tumors such as chordoma, sarcoma, schwannoma, meningioma, and metastatic cancer. I have a particular interest in cervical kyphosis and complex cervical spine surgery. Throughout my career, I have advocated for patient-centered multidisciplinary clinical collaborations. I am passionate about providing personalized and empathic surgical spine care.

Prior to Penn Medicine, I was chief of spine neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor of neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School, where I also served as director of spine oncology and spinal deformity surgery and founder of the Mass General Brigham Neurosurgery Complex Spine Fellowship training program. In 2022, I was honored as the inaugural Kingdon-Saylor Family Endowed Chair in Neurosurgery for exemplary contributions to Massachusetts General Hospital. I also earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

In addition to performing complex spine surgery, I have leadership positions with many spine organizations. I am currently co-chair of the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine Editorial Board and am often invited to lecture internationally at meetings and universities. I have directed surgeon education courses for the North American Spine Society, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, AO Spine, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and the AANS/CNS Division of Spine and Peripheral Nerves. I currently serve on the Executive and Scientific Planning Committees for the AANS/CNS Spine Section and am the 2025 Scientific Program Co-Chair for the upcoming North American Spine Society Annual Meeting.

 

Education and training

  • Medical School: Chicago Medical School
  • Residency: University of Illinois Medical Center
  • Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Insurance accepted

My Locations

Penn Medicine hospital privileges

  • Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
  • Pennsylvania Hospital: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
  • Penn Presbyterian Medical Center: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
Dr. Shin is a Penn Medicine physician.

Qualifications and experience

Treatments and Conditions

My research

Versteeg AL, Charest-Morin R, De La Garza Ramos R, Laufer I, Teixeira WGJ, Barzilai O, Gasbarrini A, Fehlings MG, Chou D, Gokaslan ZL, Netzer C, Luzatti A, Verlaan JJ, Goldschlager T, Shin JH, O'Toole JE, Sciubba DM, Bettegowda C, Clarke MJ, Weber MH, Mesfin A, Kawahara N, Patel SS, Goodwin CR, Disch AC, Reynolds JJ, Lazary A, Boriani S, Dea N, Sahgal A, Rhines LD, Fisher CG; AO Spine Knowledge Forum Tumor. Association Between Nutritional Status and Survival in Patients Requiring Treatment for Spinal Metastases , Neurosurgery: 2025

Siraj L, Duvall JB, Massaad E, Fourman MS, Shin JH Preoperative Function, Previous SERM Treatment, and Triple-Negative Tumor Status are Independently Associated With 3-Month Postoperative Function After Surgical Decompression of Metastatic Breast Cancer , HSS J: 2025

Khalid SI, Wang R, Abou-Mrad T, Massaad E, Arena JD, Ghenbot Y, Golubovsky JL, Ozturk AK, Shin JH. Association of Osteoporosis and Bone-Strengthening Medications with Postoperative Outcomes Following Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion , World Neurosurg: 2025

Laflamme M, Gasbarrini A, Rhines LD, Lazary A, Gokaslan ZL, Reynolds JJ, Luzzati A, Disch AC, Chou D, Clarke MJ, Wei F, Bettegowda C, Rampersaud YR, Boriani S, Shin JH, Lord E, Sciubba DM, Laufer I, Sahgal A, Fisher CG, Dea N; AO Spine Knowledge Forum Tumor. Surgical Adverse Events for Primary Tumors of the Spine and Their Impact on Outcomes: An Observational Study From the Primary Tumors Research and Outcomes Network: Corrigendum , Neurosurgery: 2025

Karsalia R, Xu E, Malhotra RD, Gor A, Arena JD, Kost J, McClintock SD, Yoon J, Ozturk AK, Judy B, Marcotte P, Shin JH, Schuster J, Malhotra NR. Markers of preoperative depression and anxiety as predictors of increased short-term healthcare utilization after lumbar fusion surgery , J Neurosurg Spine: 2025

Cho C, Hills J, Anderson P, Annaswamy T, Cassidy RC, Craig C, DeMicco R, Easa J, Kreiner S, Mazanec D, O'Toole J, Rappard G, Ravinsky R, Schoenfeld A, Shin J, Whitcomb G, Reitman C. Appropriate Use Criteria for Osteoporotic Compression Fractures. , Spine J., 4:S1529-9430(25)00100-7.: 2025

Joshua L Golubovsky, John H Shin Editorial. Back pain catastrophizing: evaluating expectations for patients with lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis , J Neurosurg Spine : 2025

O'Callaghan E, Andrade K, Rivera N, Rowe D, Blasingame M, Reitz K, Dalton T, Crowell KA, Herndon J, Kaplan S, Applegate KL, Garcia ME, De la Garza Ramos R, Shin JH, Erickson M, Goodwin CR. ASO Visual Abstract: Perioperative Depressive Symptoms in Surgical Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis , Ann Surg Oncol.: 2025

De la Garza Ramos R, Goodwin CR, Weber MH, Pahuta M, Patel SS, MacLean M, Sahgal A, Rhines LD, Sciubba DM, Netzer C, Dea N, Verlaan JJ, Gasbarrini A, Reynolds J, Barzilai O, Bettegowda C, Boriani S, Fisher CG, Gokaslan ZL, Lazary A, Laufer I, Shin JH, Charest-Morin R; AO Spine Knowledge Forum Tumor. An International Delphi Consensus on Defining the Optimal Surgical Composite Outcome in Metastatic Spine Disease (OSCO-M) , Spine (Phila Pa 1976): 2025

Cho CH, Hills JM, Anderson PA, Annaswamy TM, Cassidy RC, Craig CM, DeMicco RC, Easa JE, Kreiner DS, Mazanec DJ, O'Toole JE, Rappard G, Ravinsky RA, Schoenfeld AJ, Shin JH, Whitcomb GL, Reitman CA. Appropriate Use Criteria for Neoplastic Compression Fractures , Spine J, 13: 2025,S1529-9430(25)00018-X

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