Staff Scientist - Precision Oncology of Gastrointestinal Cancers

City of Hope, an innovative biomedical research, treatment and educational institution with over 6000 employees, is dedicated to the prevention and cure of cancer and other life-threatening diseases and guided by a compassionate, patient-centered philosophy.

Founded in 1913 and headquartered in Duarte, California, City of Hope is a remarkable non-profit institution, where compassion and advanced care go hand-in-hand with excellence in clinical and scientific research. City of Hope is a National Cancer Institute designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nations leading cancer centers that develops and institutes standards of care for cancer treatment.

Position Summary

A Staff Scientist position is available in Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope. The Staff Scientist series is designed as a step towards faculty transition for highly accomplished and driven research professionals whose primary function is to support the research infrastructure and activities of the institution. Staff Scientists will bring special skills, knowledge and supervisory experience to research programs or institutional core laboratories. Individuals appointed as staff scientists will receive a one-year fixed-term contract.

We are seeking multiple Staff Scientists to become a part of the multidisciplinary research team headed by Dr. Ajay Goel, Professor and Chair, Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics. Our research group comprises of basic biologists, gastroenterologists, surgeons, medical oncologists and bioinformaticians, undertaking a number of collaborative projects involving large international consortia.

Our research is focused on translational research as it relates to genomic and epigenomic characterization of various gastrointestinal cancers (GI) including colorectal, pancreatic and gastric cancers, and some of the key research topics include: 1) Development of circulating DNA/RNA-based liquid biopsy biomarkers for cancer diagnosis, prognosis and predictive response to various therapies. 2) Study the epigenetic basis of GI cancers (e.g. aberrant DNA methylation, histone modifications and non-coding RNAs. 3) The genetic basis of early-onset and familial/hereditary colorectal cancers. 4) The role of tumor microenvironment, stem cells, immune regulation and identification of novel targeted therapies. 5) The role of extracellular vesicles/exosomes as in cancer pathogenesis and their role as disease biomarkers. Our group performs cutting-edge research in GI oncology, is very productive and publishes in high-impact journals such as Gastroenterology, Cancer Cell, PNAS, JNCI, Clinical Cancer Research, Nature Communications, Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Annals of Surgery etc.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Devise, plan, document and advance basic science and translational projects in the relevant research area.

• Generate data for grant applications and prepare manuscripts for publication.

• Work in close collaboration with other team members and external collaborators, including presentation of progress internally or externally.

• Train and supervise post-doctoral fellows and technical staff.

• You will have the unique possibility to drive research towards a novel cancer diagnostics and therapy at the interface of science and translation to the clinic and publish high-impact journals.

• This position allows a Staff Scientist to submit grants to various private and federal organizations.

Qualifications:

Basic education, experience and skills required for consideration:

• PhD and/or MD/PhD

• Evidence of first or senior author peer-reviewed publications

• Prior molecular, cancer biology and/or translational research experience and evidence of project development and supervision of post-doctoral fellows and technical staff

• Prior evidence for any obtaining any grant funding and plans for seeking extramural grant funding within 1-3 years of joining

Additional Information:

• To protect the health of patients and staff and to comply with new State of California mandates, City of Hope staff are required to show proof of full vaccination by September 30, 2021. Compliance is a condition of employment.

City of Hope is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, or status as a qualified individual with disability.