Dr. Michael J. Zinner, the engineer-turned-surgeon who helped redefine cancer care in America, passed away on 25 October 2025 after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 80. As the founding CEO and executive medical director of Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist Health South Florida, and former chief of surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dr. Zinner was celebrated for blending precision, compassion, and innovation in modern oncology.
Photo from Michael Zinner/LinkedIn
Long before he became one of the nation’s most respected cancer surgeons, Zinner began his academic journey far from the operating room — as an electrical engineering student at the Whiting School. That early discipline shaped the way he approached every challenge that followed.
“It taught me linear thinking,problem-solving, and a metered approach to problems that would stay with me the rest of my life. I applied that approach to medicine, and that is how I ultimately ended up in surgery. Surgery is essentially problem-solving,” Dr. Zinner said in a 2016 interview with the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University (Destination: Cancer Care, by Rachel Wallach, Johns Hopkins Engineering Magazine, Summer 2016).
He went on to earn his medical degree from the University of Florida and completed his surgical residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital between 1971 and 1980. From those formative years, his reputation grew steadily. After early faculty roles at SUNY Downstate and Kings County Hospital, where he became Chief of Surgical Oncology, he returned to Johns Hopkins as Vice Chair of Surgery. Later he led departments at UCLA and then at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he served as Surgeon-in-Chief and Chair of Surgery for more than two decades.
At Brigham, Dr. Zinner helped found Harvard’s Center for Surgery and Public Health, advancing access to surgical care around the world. He also co-edited the definitive surgical reference Maingot’s Abdominal Operations, shaping how generations of surgeons would be trained.
In 2015, Dr. Zinner returned to Florida to establish the Miami Cancer Institute. He envisioned not just another hospital, but a place where advanced technology, clinical research, and compassionate care could thrive together. Under his leadership, the Institute introduced proton therapy and forged partnerships with world-leading institutions such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
“Innovation in cancer research is accelerating at an unprecedented rate, positively impacting our patients’ lives,”
Dr. Zinner said in a 2024 interview with Baptist Health South Florida. (Baptist Health News), a sentiment that captures his lifelong optimism and curiosity.
Michael Zinner/LinkedIn
Even in illness, Dr. Zinner remained a teacher and mentor, reminding colleagues that the heart of medicine lies in curiosity and empathy. His legacy endures in every surgeon he trained, every patient he inspired, and every innovation his vision made possible.
Written by Dr.Tariq ALkhawaldeh