Dr. Skinner is an Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and Hillman Fellow for Innovative Cancer research at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and the University of Pittsburgh. His clinical practice focuses primarily on the treatment of malignancies of the upper aero-digestive tract, while his laboratory seeks to identify novel, clinically relevant pathways that mediate radiation response in cancer. His research approach integrates state-of-the-art clinical tissue analysis, in vivo screening methods and in vitro investigation, with a goal of providing multiple avenues to develop rational clinical trials of radiation modulators. Dr. Skinner’s research has been supported by funding from both the NCI and NIDCR, including 3 current R01 awards as PI, as well as state and private funding agencies. He has, and continues to, serve as the PI of multiple clinical trials, including NRG LU-001. This is a multi-institutional randomized trial examining the use of metformin as a radiosensitizer in lung cancer, a concept that was developed in part from work in Dr. Skinner’s laboratory.