Joseph Zenga, MD
Donald S. Blatnik, MD and Sharyn B. Blatnik Professorship of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology and Reconstruction; Associate Professor & Chief, Division of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology & Reconstruction
Biography
Dr. Zenga obtained his undergraduate degree at Cornell University and attended Washington University in Saint Louis where he earned an MD degree and completed an Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery residency. He subsequently completed a fellowship in Head and Neck Surgical Oncology, Skullbase Surgery, and Microvascular Reconstruction at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary/Harvard Medical School. His fellowship training focused heavily on both complex free tissue reconstruction and minimally invasive surgery with the use of surgical robots. His research interests include basic and translational immunotherapy in head and neck cancer. In particular, his laboratory focuses on identification and therapeutic use of tumor antigen-specific T cells. This includes multiple innovative single-cell techniques incorporating individual tumor cell-T cell co-culture and single-cell RNA and T cell receptor sequencing. In addition to translational immuno-oncology, he also co-leads multiple novel clinical trials focused on using radiotherapy to improve the immune response in head and neck cancer.
Research Interests
- Immunology of radiotherapy for head and neck cancer
- Single-cell RNA and T cell receptor sequencing
- Tumor-specific T cell and neo-antigen discovery
- Murine modeling of oral cancer and in vivo imaging
- Phase I clinical trials
Publications
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(Bonate R, Awan M, Himburg H, Wong S, Shukla M, Zenga J, Paulson ES.) Clinical and Translational Radiation Oncology. January 2026;56 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105019339875 01/01/2026
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(Memon AA, Awan MJ, Espinosa OV, Kuehn R, Frei A, Foeckler J, Bruening J, Akakpo K, Massey B, Stadler M, Wong S, Himburg HA, Zenga J.) JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2025 Oct 23 PMID: 41129177 PMCID: PMC12550742 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105022204542 10/23/2025
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Tumoral Skin Invasion Is an Independent Predictor of Rapid Recurrence in Head and Neck Cancer.
(Memon AA, Khalil M, Espinosa OV, Said I, Yang E, Adams JA, Friedland DR, Khani M, Luo J, Kuehn R, Frei A, Foeckler J, Akakpo K, Massey B, Stadler M, Wong S, Himburg HA, Awan MJ, Bruening J, Zenga J.) Head Neck. 2025 Oct 07 PMID: 41054923 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105018525815 10/07/2025
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Activation of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 Mitigates Gastrointestinal Acute Radiation Syndrome.
(Sharma GP, Nissen A, Gasperetti T, Foeckler J, Frei AC, Kuehn R, Gerhartz M, Heinzelman P, Romero PA, Zenga J, Himburg HA.) Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2025 Sep 16 PMID: 40967372 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105019379840 09/19/2025
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(Zenga J, Awan MJ, Frei A, Foeckler J, Kuehn R, Kasprzak J, Massey B, Bruening J, Akakpo K, Shukla M, Wong SJ, Mathison AJ, Wendt Andrae J, Hunt B, Puzyrenko A, Jin VX, Memon AA, Villarreal Espinosa O, Chen F, Shaheduzzaman M, Kearl T, Hematti P, Himburg HA.) Nat Commun. 2025 Jul 01;16(1):5660 PMID: 40593620 PMCID: PMC12219838 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105009625716 07/02/2025
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Locked Dimerized CXCL12 Exerts Radiosensitizing Effects in Head and Neck Cancer.
(Espinosa OV, Awan M, Memon AA, Frei A, Foeckler J, Kuehn R, Bruening J, Massey B, Wong S, Shukla M, Kasprzak J, Joshi A, Dwinell MB, Himburg HA, Zenga J.) Head Neck. 2025 May;47(5):1379-1391 PMID: 39722591 PMCID: PMC12040585 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85212965471 12/26/2024
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(Bonate R, Awan MJ, Himburg HA, Wong S, Shukla M, Tarima S, Zenga J, Paulson ES.) Phys Imaging Radiat Oncol. 2025 Jan;33:100693 PMID: 39877149 PMCID: PMC11772986 01/29/2025
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(Bonate R, Awan MJ, Himburg HA, Wong S, Shukla M, Tarima S, Zenga J, Paulson ES.) Physics and Imaging in Radiation Oncology. January 2025;33 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85214566416 01/01/2025
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(Zenga J, Himburg HA, Wong SJ, Kearl T, Hematti P, Jin VX, Memon AA, Mathison AJ, Awan MJ.) Oral Oncol. 2024 Sep;156:106947 PMID: 39009483 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85198374252 07/16/2024
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(Hussain O, DeGroot A, Treffy R, Bakhaidar M, Zenga J, Shabani S.) World Neurosurg. 2024 Jul;187:68 PMID: 38599373 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85192194909 04/11/2024
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Type I interferon signaling promotes radioresistance in head and neck cancer.
(Zenga J, Awan MJ, Frei A, Massey B, Bruening J, Shukla M, Sharma GP, Shreenivas A, Wong SJ, Zimmermann MT, Mathison AJ, Himburg HA.) Transl Cancer Res. 2024 May 31;13(5):2535-2543 PMID: 38881922 PMCID: PMC11170510 06/17/2024
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(Cherubin T, Pawar S, Zenga J, Kasprzak J.) Wisconsin Medical Journal. July 2024;123(3):243 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85199500587 07/01/2024