Dr. Mitchell Posner named Chief Clinical Officer for the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center and cancer services

Mitchell C. Posner, MD, has been appointed Chief Clinical Officer of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCCCC) and the health system’s Cancer Service Line. In this newly created leadership role, Posner will be responsible for the day-to-day clinical operations of the cancer services across the health system as well as the new Cancer Pavilion, which is expected to open in 2027. In addition, he has been charged with building and maintaining cohesive cancer services that demonstrate a strong commitment to the highest standards of clinical care.

As Chief Clinical Officer, Posner will work closely with Kimyatta Washington, Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of Cancer Services for the UChicago Medicine health system. He will report to Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, Director of the UCCCC and Dean for Oncology in the Biological Sciences Division. In his position, he will work collaboratively with leadership across the UCCCC and Cancer Pavilion as well department chairs, section chiefs and others in UChicago Medicine health system.

Posner is the Thomas D. Jones Distinguished Service Professor of Surgery and Section Chief of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology. He is also the Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Physician-in-Chief. In those roles, he’s earned a reputation as a leading national and international authority in the management of upper gastrointestinal cancers and ranks among the country's best doctors.

As a researcher, Posner focuses on the molecular basis of malignancies, which has enabled him to design and guide groundbreaking clinical trials for cancers of the pancreas, esophagus, colon, stomach, rectum and liver. He served in the past as Chair of the Gastrointestinal Committee of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group, the only national surgically focused cooperative group dedicated to clinical trials research. With more than 30 years of experience, he has won dozens of awards and has authored 200 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Beyond his impressive clinical and research work, Posner is past president of the Society of Surgical Oncology, a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American College of Surgeons. He is Section Editor of Gastrointestinal Diseases for the American Cancer Society journal Cancer. He is also on the Board of Directors for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, where he represents the UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center as a Member Institution.