Postdoctoral Research Associate, Pathology & Lab Medicine

The University of Arizona • Tucson, AZ

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The University of Arizona College of Medicine’s (Tucson) Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine invites applications for a postdoctoral tissue-based investigator to join our outstanding biomedical research team. Our department is a research-intensive department at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, with strengths in molecular pathology, tumor biology, digital pathology, HIV-related tumors, biobanking, translational diagnostics, and neurodegenerative disease neuropathology, including an established brain bank and tissue-resource infrastructure. A partnership with Banner – University Medical Center Tucson and access to the UA Cancer Center's shared resources in genomics, tissue acquisition, biostatistics, molecular imaging, and digital pathology provide additional research opportunities. This integrative research role is designed to bridge oral & head and neck pathology, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer pathology, as well as biobanking of primary samples. The successful candidate will conduct translational research focused on tissue-based molecular biomarkers, disease progression, and cross-disease applications that integrate oral pathology with neurodegenerative disease and cancer research. The successful candidate will be embedded within an established molecular, neuropathology, and cancer research group and will benefit from immediate access to mentored grant development, tissue and biospecimen resources, and existing collaborative infrastructure spanning both oral and neurodegenerative disease tissue banking.

Requirements

• DDS, DMD, MD, PhD, or equivalent doctoral degree in a biomedical field (oral & maxillofacial pathology, anatomic pathology, molecular biology, cancer biology), or a related discipline.
• Have a record of publications and research funding, commensurate with career stage.

Nice To Haves

• Research program on oral squamous cell carcinoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, salivary gland tumors, odontogenic tumors, or oral premalignant disease, with a molecular-marker or tumor-microenvironment focus (e.g., ADAM10/EGFR signaling, stromal myofibroblasts, syndecan/proteoglycan biology, TGF-β/Smad signaling, HPV-associated HNSCC, or podoplanin/lymphangiogenic markers).
• Interest and willingness to develop an integrative dental–neuropathology research program, extending oral-pathology methodology into oral–brain axis biology, periodontal-disease contributions to Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), or shared tissue-based biomarker platforms across oral and CNS tissue.
• Established portfolio in tissue biobanking and tissue-based molecular pathology — immunohistochemistry, whole-slide imaging, tissue-microarray design, digital and computational pathology, or spatial molecular profiling — with applicability across multiple tissue types.
• Experience in tissue-based molecular biomarkers of disease progression, tumor– or lesion–stromal interactions, and translational discovery pipelines that connect diagnostic pathology to novel therapeutic and preventive strategies and that have focused on biobanking of primary tissues.
• Complementary collaborative experience in translational therapeutic-development approaches, such as photodynamic or sonodynamic therapy, nanoparticle- or liposome-based targeted delivery, drug-repurposing approaches, or related methodology applicable to oral/head and neck cohorts.
• Genomic, transcriptomic, or bioinformatic analysis of oral/head and neck tumor cohorts, with methodology transferable to neurodegenerative-disease tissue cohorts.
• Experience incorporating digital and computational pathology, genomic and transcriptomic profiling of tissue cohorts, and neurodegenerative-disease specimens.
• Experience in primary tissue biobanking, cancer tissue banking, and HIV-related cancer biology.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to highly impactful, extramurally funded research programs at the interface of oral / head and neck cancer pathology and neurodegenerative-disease neuropathology.
• Contribute to the tissue-resource infrastructure, digital pathology operations, image-analysis workflows, cross-cohort tissue metadata, and translational biomarker projects that integrate oral/head and neck pathology expertise with neurodegenerative-disease neuropathology.
• Develop integrative dental–neuropathology projects — for example, oral–brain axis biology, periodontal-disease contributions to Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, systemic-inflammation biomarkers shared across oral and CNS tissue, and cross-tissue application of digital and computational pathology methodology.
• Contribute expertise in biobanking of primary tumor tissues, tissue bank operations including distribution of tissues, tissue-based molecular pathology to institutional shared resources, and cross-disease biomarker discovery pipelines.
• Maintain a record of impactful research publications spanning oral/head and neck cancer pathology and, over time, integrative dental–neuropathology work.
• Contribute to "team science" based interdisciplinary research grants and projects, including center-scale mechanisms (P30, U54, SPORE, UM1), the University's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center environment, and through the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
• Conduct independent and collaborative research focused on tissue-based molecular biomarkers of disease progression in oral cavity, head and neck, neurodegenerative disease, and cancer specimens.
• Develop research programs exploring oral-brain axis biology, systemic inflammation, periodontal disease and Alzheimers disease and related dementias (ADRD), HIV-related cancers, and other cross-disease translational research areas.
• Apply tissue-based molecular methodologies across oral and central nervous system specimens.
• Utilize digital pathology, computational pathology, genomic, and transcriptomic approaches to analyze tissue cohorts for translational biomarker discovery projects.
• Contribute to tissue biobanking and biospecimen resource development, including tissue banking infrastructure and metadata management.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary investigators across pathology, neuroscience, cancer biology, and related fields.
• Pursue mentored grant development and contribute to collaborative research initiatives including manuscript preparation and publications.

Benefits

• health, dental, vision, and life insurance
• paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays
• UA/ASU/NAU tuition reduction for the employee and qualified family members
• access to UA recreation and cultural activities

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree