John H. Shin, MD, MBA

Neurosurgery
Accepting new patients
Sees patients age 18 and up
Penn Spine Center Pennsylvania Hospital
View 1 additional location
Schedule onlineCall 215-662-3340
Headshot of John H. Shin, MD, MBA
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.

My education and training

  • Medical School: Chicago Medical School
  • Residency: University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago
  • Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Watch video featuring John H. Shin, MD, MBA on YouTube

Spoken languages

English
English

Insurance accepted

Please contact the practice and/or the member services department of your insurance company for specific details before receiving services. Providers may participate in some, but not all, products offered by a health plan; providers may also accept plans at some practice locations but not others.

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

Research

Publications

Hoglund ZT, Kathawate VG, Sollenberger CS, Wu AQ, Englander R, Rani N, Saadoun J, Massaad E, Schuster JM, Marcotte PJ, Shammassian BH, Welch WC, Casper DS, Ozturk AK, Ali ZS, Malhotra NR, Shin JH, Judy BF. Cost-effectiveness of three-level cervical disc arthroplasty vs. anterior discectomy and fusion: a comparative single-system analysis , J Spine Surg, 12: 2026,90

Arena JD, Ghenbot Y, Dagli MM, Golubovsky JL, Gu B, Quinones A, Macaluso D, Malhotra NR, Ali ZS, Judy BF, Yoon JW, Welch WC, Arlet V, Shin JH, Ozturk AK. Incidence and outcomes of spinopelvic fixation loosening following adult spinal deformity surgery , Spine Deform: 2026

Alexandrov A, Bangash AH, Belman L, Cao V, Murthy S, Gelfand Y, Akinduro OO, Goodwin CR, Larry Lo SF, Sciubba DM, Shin JH, Gokaslan ZL, Yassari R, De la Garza Ramos R. Instrumentation failure after lumbar spondylectomy for spinal tumors: a systematic review and pooled individual patient analysis , Eur Spine J: 2026

Nguyen A, Trivedi T, O'Callaghan E, Yoo S, Zachem T, Ahmed R, De La Garza Ramos R, Charest-Morin R, Bilsky MH, Sciubba D, Clarke M, Tatsui C, Shin JH, Laufer I, Barzilai O, Gokaslan ZL, Sahgal A, Weber M, Sullivan PLZ, Dea N, Lazáry Á, Mullikin T, Goodwin CR. Vertebral metastatic disease: A paradigm shift , Neurooncol Adv, 8: 2026,iii21-iii36

Hoglund ZT, Wu AQ, Kathawate VG, Sollenberger C, Englander R, Rani N, Saadoun J, Massaad E, Dagli MM, Malhotra N, Yoon JW, Welch WC, Ozturk AK, Shin JH, Judy BF. Generalist Large-Language Models for Spine Imaging Diagnostics: An Early Analysis of Detection Performance for Scoliosis and Lumbar Stenosis , World Neurosurg: 2026

Golubovsky JL, Crabill GA, Rajan A, Messing I, Massaad E, Hu BY, Hejazi-Garcia C, Wathen CA, Shost M, Ozturk AK, Shin JH, Cipriano CA, Weber KL, Peters GW, Butala AA, Malhotra NR, Schuster JM. A retrospective cohort analysis evaluating the utility of the spinal instability neoplastic score (SINS) in screening for spinal instability and vertebral compression fracture risk in plasma cell neoplasm and lymphoma lesions , Spine J: 2026

Khalid SI, Wang R, Abou-Mrad T, Tiefenbach J, Massaad E, Elsamadicy AA, Arena JD, Ghenbot Y, Golubovsky JL, Ozturk AK, Shin JH. Opioid use and complications following short-segment fusions in patients with psychiatric disorders , J Neurosurg Spine, 44: 2026,894-901

Sollenberger C, Wu AQ, Hoglund Z, Kathawate VG, Welch W, Ozturk A, Shin J, Judy BF. Comparative Outcomes of Single-Level Lumbar Laminectomy versus Hemilaminectomy: A Retrospective TriNetX Analysis , Global Spine J: 2026

Golubovsky JL, Gu BJ, Massaad E, Dagli MM, Crabill GA, Ghenbot Y, Arena J, Shost M, Welch WC, Ali Z, Judy B, Malhotra NR, Shin JH, Ozturk AK. Radiographic predictors of lumbar disc re-herniation requiring repeat discectomy or fusion: a matched retrospective cohort analysis , Spine J: 2026

Bartlett AM, Robertson FC, Shaker E, Than KD, Godzik J, Hofstetter CP, Pollina J, Shin JH, Urakov T, Fessler RG, Abd-El-Barr MM. Disruptive technologies in spine surgery: current trends, outcomes, and ethical implications , J Neurosurg Spine, 44: 2026,756-768

View all publications