Faculty Position: Cancer Cell Surfaceome/Novel Therapeutic Design Scientist

Position Description

The Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in Arizona invites applications for an open-rank faculty position with a commitment to advancing cancer research into clinical impact. Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in Arizona is building a world-class research hub to transform cancer patient care through actionable target discovery and next-generation therapeutic platforms. This initiative sits at the intersection of basic discovery science defining cell surfaceome mapping and immune-antigen discovery, through the development of cellular therapeutics, vaccine manufacturing, immuno-therapeutics, and theranostics, supported by strong clinical and clinical trial programs and strategic collaborations. Qualified investigators will have a focus along the continuum from discovery science on the identification and characterization of cancer-related epitopes and the associated immunologic response as the foundation of novel therapeutics for clinical deployment in the setting of cancer prevention in high-risk individuals, early cancer detection, mitigation of nascent cancer progression (“cancer interception”), and therapeutic applications for established disease. Potential therapeutic designs include but are not limited to cellular therapeutics, vaccine modalities and radiotheranostics.

Strategic Role and Leadership Expectations

The Research Scientist will:

• Participate in institutional initiatives aligned with Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center’s vision to Cure, Connect, and Transform cancer care through transformative science.
• Lead an independent, externally funded research program in developmental therapeutics for translational science focused within the continuum of cancer cell surfaceome mapping through novel cancer therapeutics. This may include:
  
  • Identification and validation of novel tumor antigens (“neoantigens”) for applications in therapeutics and diagnostics (theranostics).
  • Characterization of immunologic response to cancer-related immunopeptidomics
  • Contribute to the development of next-generation therapeutic platforms such as immunotherapies, cellular therapies, and nucleic acid-based vaccines
  • Conduct/coordinate pre-IND enabling research for acceleration of novel therapeutics into First-In-Human early phase clinical trials
• Contribute to the development of next-generation therapeutic platforms focused on immunotherapies, cellular therapies, antibodies/nanobodies, radiopharmaceuticals and nucleic acid-based vaccines.
  Collaborate across multidisciplinary teams to translate discoveries into clinical-grade therapeutics with coordination of internal/external manufacturing processes.
• Actively engage in Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center activities
• Engage in enterprise-wide collaborations across Mayo Clinic sites (Rochester, MN; Phoenix and Scottsdale, AZ; Jacksonville, FL) with external partners, including Arizona State University, and numerous biotechnology partners.
• Mentor trainees and contribute to a collaborative, inclusive research environment.

Key Areas of Scientific Focus

• RNA Biology & Transcriptomic Insights: Leverage bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize tumor-specific expression, alternative splicing events, RNA editing, and non-canonical transcripts (e.g., fusion genes, retained introns, dark proteins).
• Immunopeptidomics & Antigen Presentation: Utilize mass spectrometry–based immunopeptidomics to directly profile peptides presented on HLA molecules. Map the repertoire of naturally presented tumor-associated and tumor-specific antigens to validate biological relevance beyond transcript-level predictions.
• AI-Driven Target Prediction & Prioritization: Develop and apply machine learning and deep learning models to predict antigen processing, HLA binding affinity, peptide stability, and immunogenicity.
• Immune Receptor Discovery & Modeling: TCR/BCR repertoire analysis and/or deep learning approaches for antigen prediction and functional immune response assessment.
• Binder & Platform Development: Generation of antibodies, nanobodies, peptides, or RNA-based payloads adaptable across therapeutic modalities. Translate target discovery to immunotherapy, cellular therapy, oligonucleotide-based vaccines, or radio-theranostics.
• Therapeutic Applications: Experience with on-target/off-target validation of therapeutic potential in pre-clinical model systems
• First-In-Human Therapeutic Development: Coordinate/conduct pre-IND enabling studies for acceleration of novel therapeutics from design through manufacturing to Phase I trials.
• Clinical & Translational Relevance: Incorporate patient-derived datasets and clinical annotations to prioritize targets with high relevance across patient populations and disease subtypes.
• End-to-End Target Nomination Pipeline: Build scalable pipelines that connect discovery to validation. Ensure targets are suitable for downstream modalities such as T cell engagers, CAR-T therapies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), or cancer vaccines.
• Clinical & Translational Relevance: Incorporate patient-derived datasets and clinical annotations to prioritize targets with high relevance across patient populations and disease subtypes.

The successful candidate will be a key driver in bridging and accelerating the drug discovery and development pipeline with AI-embedded technologics through manufacturing to testing of novel therapeutics in coordination with the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center Phase 1 clinical trials program.

Research Environment

Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in Arizona offers a highly collaborative and integrated academic medical center environment with expanding strengths in cell therapy, cancer immunotherapy, regenerative medicine, and translational science. Faculty benefit from:

• Established CAR-T and immune cell therapy programs with active clinical translation
• State-of-the-art genome engineering and cell manufacturing infrastructure
• Access to institutional core facilities including genomics, single-cell sequencing, proteomics, bioinformatics, and advanced imaging
• Focused drive to launch first-in-human trails to bring new treatments to patients
• Dedicated institutional support for regulatory strategy, clinical trial development, and commercialization pathways
• Developing biotechnology corridor attracting partner companies for the accelerating translation of discoveries.
• Cross-campus collaboration opportunities with Mayo Clinic sites in Minnesota and Florida

The selected candidate will help shape a coordinated, forward-looking drug discovery and development program that advances novel agents from bench to bedside.

Why Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center (MCCCC)?

With 440 members and >1500 aligned cancer physicians working in six Cancer Research Programs (Cancer Prevention, Survivorship & Control; Cancer Risk Assessment, Early Detection & Interception; Cancer Genomics, Signaling, & Metastasis; Cancer Immunology & Immunotherapeutics; Novel Therapeutics & Therapeutic Modalities; Advanced Clinical Trials and Translational Sciences) and 15 Disease Groups focused on clinical trials, MCCCC is a global leader and represents the pinnacle of cancer care, research and education and training. Every year, across its three enterprise sites (Rochester, Minnesota; Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona; and Jacksonville, Florida), MCCCC physicians provide expert cancer diagnosis and treatment to more than 150,000 unique patients from across the nation and the globe.

The MCCCC Misson: To inspire hope and promote health and healing through integrated research, clinical practice, and education, centered around our primary value: the needs of the patient come first.

The MCCCC Vision: To be a global cancer authority: transforming cancer research and practice to assure that our discoveries, knowledge, and expertise are accessible to all, within and beyond our walls, at anyplace and anytime.

MCCCC Goals:

1. To cure cancers through translation of innovative transdisciplinary science to new means of prevention, early detection, interception, intervention, and unparalleled care delivery.
2. To transform cancer research and practice using category of one data platforms, digital technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and intelligent automation, creating new models for community and patient engagement, and the conduct of research, clinical trials and patient-centered care delivery in clinical, home, and community settings.
3. To use Mayo Clinic Platform to engage patients and communities in our catchment areas and across the nation and the world in cancer research and distributed and decentralized clinical trials.
4. To educate, train, and mentor the next generation of cancer physicians, scientists, and leaders.
   

Over the past year, MCCCC has continued to achieve exceptional performance metrics, with high levels of cancer research funding (reporting $61.2M in annual peer-reviewed funding ($41.1M from NCI) and $98.7M in industry and non-peer reviewed funding). The Center currently has over 80 multi-investigator programmatic grants including 6 NCI Specialized Programs of Research Emphasis (SPORES): Myeloma, Ovarian Cancer, Breast Cancer, Liver/Hepatobiliary Cancers, Prostate Cancer, and Sarcoma. In 2025, clinical trial accrual has remained robust, reporting the Center’s highest accrual to therapeutic interventional trials: 2,624 (12% of newly registered cases), with 6,588 interventional accruals (30% of newly registered patients) and 10,367 non-interventional accruals. In 2025, MCCCC members published an exceptional number (1776) of peer-reviewed academic works, 24% of which were published in high impact journals.

Why Choose Mayo Clinic Arizona?

Mayo Clinic is a premier, integrated academic medical center consistently ranked among the top hospitals in the nation. The Arizona campus is experiencing strategic growth in cancer immunotherapy, drug discovery & development, regenerative medicine, and translational discovery science. We offer:

• Competitive startup and sustained institutional support
• Investment in team science and program-building initiatives
• Access to a $1B+ annual research enterprise
• Infrastructure for IND-enabling studies and early-phase clinical trials
• Exceptional benefits, including retirement and pension programs
• A culture that values innovation, inclusion, and transdisciplinary collaboration
  
  

Qualified candidates must hold a doctoral degree (Ph.D., M.D., M.D./Ph.D., Sc.D., or equivalent) in clinical pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, molecular biology, immunology, biomedical engineering, or a related discipline.

Candidates should demonstrate:

• A robust history of extramural peer-reviewed cancer-related research funding, including NIH/NCI and current active, relevant funding.
• A history of impactful publications in top-tier cancer-related journals.
• A sustained history of leadership in team-based science in research fields such as Immunology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Virology, Experimental Therapeutics, Cancer Biology.
• A demonstrated commitment to team science, mentorship of junior faculty through independence, and fostering collaborations between clinical and academic research departments.
• Expertise in cutting-edge research approaches such as long-read sequencing for isoform discovery, ribosome profiling for translation validation, T-cell receptor genotypic/phenotypic profiling and generative AI models for antigen prediction and de novo target discovery
  

Appointment level (Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor) will be commensurate with experience and years in rank, scholarly achievement, leadership experience, and funding record.