***Position Open to graduate students about to defend/graduate***

Under a newly-funded, 5-year NIH R01 award, the Armaiz-Pena laboratory at Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU)/ Ponce Research Institute (PRI) has a post-doctoral fellowship position open for a candidate interested in cancer psychoneuroimmunology / cancer immunology / cancer biology. The Armaiz-Pena laboratory provides a nurturing environment supported by hands-on mentorship and institutional career development supported by several NIH-sponsored grants including U- and R- level awards. The team focuses on understanding how distress can impact cancer progression, specifically the tumor immune microenvironment, and supporting the development of psychological and pharmacological interventions to abrogate these effects. The salary is based on NIH standards including full benefits such as health insurance and PTO are provided. The position starting date is negotiable, but we prefer to fill the position by Summer 2024.

Responsibilities

The successful candidate will participate in a project integrating research using human populations and experimental approaches to elucidate how stress-induced signaling pathways alter ovarian tumor-associated immunity, particularly immunosuppressive cell types, and assess anti-inflammatory medications that may mitigate these effects. The goal of this project is to shed light on mechanisms by which chronic stress and distress enhance early and late disease progression and provide new targets for cancer interception.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate must possess a Ph.D. in cancer biology, cancer immunology, biomedical sciences, or related fields. The candidate must be familiar with mouse models to study cancer (ovarian cancer preferred) and be willing to handle mice and perform animal surgeries. The candidate must be familiar with molecular techniques such as quantitative real-time PCR, western blots, IHC, IF, and flow cytometry/sorting. The candidate must be proficient in English writing/speaking; bilingual is a plus but not required.

If interested, please get in touch with Dr. Guillermo N. Armaiz-Pena (garmaiz@psm.edu)