Dr. Chinnaiyan is a molecular pathologist and physician scientist at the leading edge of translational cancer research and precision oncology. He is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, American Cancer Society Research Professor, and Director of the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology.  He has received several honors including the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research and the NCI Outstanding Investigator Award; he was also inducted into the AACR Academy Class of 2020. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, Association of American Physicians, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Inventors, National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Sciences. Most recently he was awarded the 2022 Sjöberg Prize for cancer research by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.  He has published over 700 manuscripts.

Dr. Chinnaiyan is best known for the discovery of TMPRSS2-ETS gene fusions in a majority of prostate cancers, the first causative gene fusion in a common solid tumor. This landmark discovery was made using a bioinformatics approach to detect outlier genes in an aggregated tumor gene expression database developed by his group.  In 2011, he established the first integrative, comprehensive clinical sequencing approach for advanced cancer patients called MI-ONCOSEQ, which has served as a paradigm for cancer precision medicine. He has also been taking advantage of integrative sequencing efforts to understand the non-coding genome of cancer especially in the area of biomarker and therapeutic development.  Most recently, he has developed a focus on developing new therapeutic approaches to target difficult to treat cancers.