Postdoctoral Fellow – EXPERIMENTAL LUNG CANCER BIOLOGY, IMMUNOLOGY, AND INTERCEPTION

VS‑Postdoc; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 64,000 - 76,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Paid vacation and sick leave

Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Fitness-center membership

Job summary

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX seeks a Postdoctoral Fellow to lead mechanistic studies in experimental lung cancer biology, immunology, and interception. The role focuses on epithelial cell states, injury responses, oncogenic signaling, and tumor-immune interactions using advanced human tissues and mouse models.

Candidate will work with multi-disciplinary teams on preclinical interventions, collaborate with computational scientists, and contribute to high-impact

Qualifications

• PhD in cancer biology, molecular/cellular biology, immunology, pulmonary biology, genetics, pathology or related field.
• Hands-on experience with mouse models and tissue injury.
• Experience with flow cytometry, microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and immunofluorescence.

Responsibilities

• Lead mechanistic studies on epithelial cell states, injury, oncogenic signaling, and immune niches in early lung cancer.
• Investigate vulnerabilities in early stages for prevention and interception strategies.
• Design and conduct studies using genetic mouse models, lineage tracing, and organoid systems.
• Interpret single-cell and spatial data; collaborate with computational scientists and clinicians.
• Prepare manuscripts and contribute to grants and presentations.

Skills

Mouse models

Animal procedures

Mammalian cell culture

Organoid systems

Molecular biology

Genetic manipulation

Flow cytometry

Microscopy

Immunohistochemistry

Immunofluorescence

Education

PhD

Tools

Single-cell sequencing

Spatial profiling

Job description

Postdoctoral Fellow – EXPERIMENTAL LUNG CANCER BIOLOGY, IMMUNOLOGY, AND INTERCEPTION

2026-10-12

Postdoctoral Fellow – EXPERIMENTAL LUNG CANCER BIOLOGY, IMMUNOLOGY,AND INTERCEPTION

Employer

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Location

Houston, Texas (US)

Commensurate with experience

Job Type

Postdoctoral

Employment - Hours

Full time

Duration

Permanent

Qualification

PhD

Sector

Hospital

The Humam Kadara Laboratory in the Department of Translational MolecularPathology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is seekingtalented and highly motivated postdoctoral fellows to investigate the cellularand ecological mechanisms governing the earliest stages of lung cancerdevelopment and to identify new strategies for

cancer prevention and interception.

Our laboratory studies the evolution of lung adenocarcinoma from normal lungtissue through premalignancy and invasive cancer. Areas of particular interestinclude injury-induced epithelial plasticity; KRT8-positive alveolarintermediate and progenitor cells; oncogenic KRAS signaling; inflammatory andimmune microenvironments; tumor–immune co-evolution; and the contribution of thehost microbiome to lung cancer pathogenesis. The laboratory combines humantissues with genetically engineered and carcinogen-associated mouse models,lineage tracing, organoid systems, preclinical intervention studies, andstate-of-the-art single-cell and spatial profiling technologies.

Representative publications include Sinjab et al., Cancer Discovery (2021);Rahal et al., Cancer Immunology Research (2024), Han et al., Nature (2024); andPeng et al., Cancer Cell (2026). These studies have defined the spatial andcellular architecture of early lung adenocarcinoma, characterized immune-cellstates associated with disease evolution, identified KRT8-positive alveolarintermediate cells as potential precursors of lung adenocarcinoma, and uncoveredinflammatory epithelial–immune niches that may be targeted for early cancerinterception.

The successful candidate will lead mechanistic studies examining howepithelial cell states, environmental or inflammatory injury, oncogenicsignaling, and immune-cell niches interact to initiate and promote lung cancer.The fellow will also investigate how vulnerabilities arising during these earlystages can be targeted through mechanism-based prevention and interceptionstrategies.

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Depending on the candidate’s experience and interests, research activitiesmay include:

Designing and conducting studies using genetically engineered,lineage-tracing, carcinogen-associated, and other human-relevant mouse models oflung cancer development.

Establishing and manipulating primary-cell, organoid, and other ex vivo modelsystems.

Performing molecular and cellular assays, flow cytometry, tissue processing,histopathology, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, microscopy, andgenetic or pharmacologic perturbation studies.

Conducting preclinical intervention studies targeting oncogenic,inflammatory, immune, and epithelial-plasticity pathways.

Interpreting single-cell sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, multipleximaging, and related multimodal data.

Working closely with computational scientists, pathologists, immunologists,pulmonary biologists, and clinical investigators to connect experimentalfindings with human lung tissues and high-dimensional molecular data.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

The postdoctoral fellow will:

Develop advanced expertise in experimental cancer biology, lung epithelialbiology, tumor immunology, and cancer prevention and interception.

Learn and master relevant in vivo, ex vivo, and molecular approaches forinvestigating lung cancer initiation and progression.

Develop rigorous skills in experimental design, quantitative data analysis,interpretation, reproducibility, and translational validation.

Gain experience integrating mechanistic experimental findings withsingle-cell, spatial, genomic, and immunogenomic data.

Lead the preparation of manuscripts and scientific presentations andcontribute to fellowship and grant applications.

Develop skills in scientific writing, oral communication, mentoring,networking, career planning, and other areas important for an independentscientific career.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Applicants should have a Ph.D., M.D./Ph.D., or equivalent doctoral degree incancer biology, molecular or cellular biology, immunology, pulmonary biology, genetics, pathology, microbiology, or a closely related discipline.

Candidates should have:

A strong foundation in molecular and cellular biology and a demonstratedcommitment to mechanistic biomedical research.

Hands-on experience with relevant experimental approaches, such as mousemodels, animal procedures, mammalian cell culture, primary-cell or organoidsystems, molecular biology, genetic manipulation, flow cytometry, microscopy,immunohistochemistry, or immunofluorescence.

The ability to design, execute, troubleshoot, and interpret experiments withincreasing independence.

Evidence of research productivity, including peer-reviewed publications orstrong manuscripts in preparation.

Excellent organizational, collaborative, spoken, and written communicationskills.

Experience with mouse models of cancer or tissue injury, lineage tracing,lung biology, tumor immunology, preclinical therapeutic studies is highlydesirable. Previous computational expertise is not required, although aninterest in interpreting high-dimensional molecular data and collaborating withcomputational investigators is encouraged.

This appointment is not part of a clinical training program. Individuals holding an M.D. degree or equivalent are not permitted to engage in patient-care activities as part of this position.

All duties and responsibilities will be carried out in compliance withinstitutional policies, ethical research standards, and applicable federal andstate regulations.

POSITION INFORMATION

This is a full-time, laboratory-based position at The University of Texas MDAnderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Under MD Anderson’s currentlypublished FY26 stipend scale, postdoctoral compensation ranges from$64,000 to $76,400, depending on years of relevant postgraduateexperience. Final compensation will follow the institutional stipend scale ineffect at the time of appointment.

• Benefits-eligible postdoctoral fellows receive a competitive benefits packagethat includes medical insurance, paid vacation and sick leave, enrollment in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, fitness-center membership, and access todental, vision, disability, health-care spending, dependent-care spending, and employee-assistance programs.