Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Translational GI Cancer Biology

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Translational GI Cancer Biology

Wang Lab, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

Employer

Description:

PI: TD Wang, MD, PhD, University of Michigan

The Wang Laboratory at the University of Michigan invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Translational Gastrointestinal Cancer Biology and Early Detection. The fellow will contribute to an integrated research program focused on early‑onset gastrointestinal (EO‑GI) cancers, with particular emphasis on colorectal cancer diagnosed before age 50. This position is embedded within a multidisciplinary translational research environment that combines molecular oncology, germline genetics, biospecimen science, computational analysis, and molecular imaging technologies.

The project integrates human clinical cohorts, advanced tissue profiling approaches, and biomarker discovery strategies to identify mechanisms that drive early tumor development and to enable the development of novel detection and diagnostic tools. The postdoctoral fellow will work closely with investigators across the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, collaborating with clinical gastroenterologists, cancer geneticists, pathologists, and computational scientists.

• Coordinate acquisition and quality control of human gastrointestinal tumor and precursor lesion specimens.
• Curate linked clinical metadata including age of onset, tumor subsite, histopathology, and clinical outcomes.
• Perform histologic evaluation and immunohistochemical analyses to characterize tumor phenotypes and molecular pathways.
• Generate structured datasets integrating pathology review with genomic and clinical annotations.

• Perform multiplex tissue profiling to evaluate immune infiltration and stromal composition within GI tumors and precursor lesions.
• Quantify immune cell subsets and spatial organization within the tumor microenvironment.
• Compare immune architecture across normal mucosa, adenomas, and invasive carcinomas.
• Develop visualizations that communicate immune microenvironment patterns relevant to tumor initiation and progression.

• Conduct analyses of tumor gene expression and signaling pathways associated with early‑onset cancer biology.
• Integrate transcriptomic data with histologic and immunologic features of tumors.
• Identify molecular programs associated with tumor initiation, epithelial transformation, and immune evasion.
• Contribute to pathway‑level interpretation and biological modeling of disease mechanisms.

• Analyze publicly available cancer genomics resources (e.g., TCGA and GEO datasets) to identify signatures associated with early‑onset disease.
• Perform comparative analyses between early‑onset and later‑onset colorectal cancers.
• Conduct pathway enrichment analyses to identify candidate mechanisms of tumorigenesis.
• Integrate bulk and single‑cell transcriptomic datasets to refine biological hypotheses.

• Identify molecular features distinguishing premalignant lesions from normal mucosa.
• Prioritize candidate biomarkers with potential clinical utility for early detection or risk stratification.
• Evaluate candidate targets for translational applications including diagnostic assays and imaging approaches.

• Participate in the design and validation of targeted molecular imaging probes for detection of early neoplasia.
• Conduct in vitro and ex vivo validation studies using human tissue specimens.
• Contribute to translational studies evaluating probe performance in preclinical models.
• Collaborate with engineering teams developing advanced imaging instrumentation.

• Prepare manuscripts for peer‑reviewed journals and present findings at national scientific meetings.
• Generate figures and datasets supporting grant applications and translational research proposals.
• Contribute to multidisciplinary meetings that integrate molecular discovery with clinical translation.

• Education: Ph…