Steven Kahn, MD

Dr. Steven Kahn is the Chief of Burn Surgery at MUSC. He led the team that established the South Carolina Burn Center at MUSC, which opened in 2020. The South Carolina Burn Center cares for patients of all ages and is the only inpatient burn center in the state of South Carolina. Dr. Kahn is regarded as an expert and a national leader in both pediatric and adult burn care. He served on the Board of Trustees of the American Burn Association (ABA) from 2021-2025 and as the ABA Program Committee Chair from 2022-2025. Kahn trained at the University of Rochester for general surgery residency and a 2-yr research fellowship, followed by additional clinical fellowships at Vanderbilt in burn surgery, critical care, and trauma/acute care surgery. He is board certified in both general surgery and surgical critical care.

Dr. Kahn has provided care to thousands of burn patients and has performed over 3000 operations to treat burn injury (including but not limited to skin grafts, skin substitutes, skin flaps, scar revision, and regenerative medicine techniques). Dr. Kahn has also been a leader in developing minimally invasive burn treatments, laser scar therapy, paradigms for enhanced recovery after burn injury, and fluid restrictive resuscitation strategies.

Kahn's main research interests are centered around firefighter safety, burn resuscitation, health economics, smoke inhalation injury, non-opiate pain control, wound healing, regenerative medicine, and burn reconstruction. He has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles and has received numerous research awards and significant grant funding for his work. He speaks nationally and internationally regarding these topics. He is an advocate for firefighter safety and serves as medical advisor for The South Carolina Association of Professional Fire Fighters and the International Association of Fire Fighters. Dr. Kahn participated in the development of FEMA-funded firefighter safety programs such as "It Happened in Seconds," regarding situational awareness, gear limitations, and burn injury awareness- and helped with drafting the South Carolina Firefighter's Cancer Bill.

Before moving to Charleston, Kahn received the Nashville Business Journal "Healthcare Heroes" Award in 2015 for his work regarding firefighter safety, followed by the Mobile Bay "40 Under 40 Award" in 2016. In 2022, he received the Charleston Health Care Heroes Award for his work in building the South Carolina Burn Center. In his free time, Kahn enjoys spending time with his wife and two children; he is also an avid fisherman and outdoorsman.