Postdoctoral Fellowship in Pathology

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is an institution renowned for its excellence in medical education, research, and patient care. Founded in 1893, it is located in Baltimore, Maryland, and consistently ranks among the top medical schools in the United States.

The School of Medicine is dedicated to training the next generation of medical professionals, including medical students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. It emphasizes a patient-centered approach to medicine, integrating cutting-edge research with clinical practice to advance the prevention and treatment of diseases. The collaborative environment at Johns Hopkins fosters innovation and discovery, making it a leader in biomedical research and healthcare delivery. Joining the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine means becoming part of a community committed to excellence, innovation, and compassionate care.

Role Description

The postdoctoral fellow will join a translational prostate cancer research group at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The laboratory is a collaborative research environment and the fellow will work both independently and as part of multidisciplinary teams. The fellow will contribute to ongoing research interests of the laboratory in studying the molecular pathology of prostate cancer as well as the influence of the genitourinary and gastrointestinal microbiome on prostate cancer development, progression, and therapeutic response. The laboratory has a strong translational focus and most projects involve working with human samples and tissues as well as samples collected as part of clinical trials. The fellow will contribute skills in molecular pathology, molecular biology, and cancer biology, and ideally has experience working with “omics” datasets and associated analyses. The fellow will contribute to mentoring and training of undergraduate and graduate students and prepare and submit peer-reviewed scientific journal publications.

Qualifications

The candidate should have strong writing and communication skills and a solid track record of scientific achievement as documented by peer-reviewed scientific journal publications.

To be considered, please send your CV, a short cover letter, and contact information for 3 references to [email protected].

Check out our new collaborative study that identifies a club cell gene signature in the luminal epithelial cells of proliferative inflammatory atrophy. Dr. Sfanos was recently invited to discuss the implications of this work with Dr. Andrea Miyahira of the Prostate Cancer Foundation on UroToday. You can watch the video here.

Dr. Angélica Cruz-Lebrón has been selected for the 2024 Johns Hopkins University Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship (PPF) Program. According to the Office of the Provost, the PPF program fellowships “seek to locate, promote, and nurture the work of outstanding early career postdoctoral scholars at Johns Hopkins University.” The award provides salary support, research funds, and professional development funds towards the enhancement of connections and skills needed to prepare for an independent STEM faculty career.

Dr. Cruz-Lebrón completed a Ph.D. and a short Postdoctoral Fellowship at Case Western Reserve University before joining the Sfanos lab as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Pathology at Johns Hopkins. Prior to joining the Ph.D. program at Case Western, Dr. Cruz-Lebrón was a Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) scholar, and was awarded the PREP Scholar of the Year at Case Western Reserve University. Thus far during her tenure at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Cruz-Lebrón has received a Johns Hopkins Postdoctoral Research Accelerator Award and a competitive award from the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program.

Congratulations Angélica!

Dr. Angélica Cruz-Lebrón

Sfanos lab Master’s student Andy Chia recently gave a wonderful presentation of his Master’s thesis “The biological characterization and molecular engineering of Clostridium scindens“. Andy was a student in the Biomedical Engineering graduate program at Johns Hopkins University. Congratulations Andy!

Dr. Carli Jones recently completed her doctoral dissertation in the Sfanos lab. She is now off to California for a postdoctoral fellowship at City of Hope. Congratulations and we will miss you Carli!!

Dr. Lauren Peiffer, who graduated after completing her thesis work in the Sfanos lab in January 2022, recently attended the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine commencement ceremony to receive her diploma and to be hooded. Dr. Peiffer is currently an Anatomic Veterinary Pathologist with StageBio. Congratulations Lauren, we are so proud of you!

Check out our new study that characterized the gastrointestinal microbiota as individuals with metastatic CRPC who are progressing on enzalutamide initiate treatment with pembrolizumab. The study, headed by former Sfanos Lab graduate student Dr. Lauren Peiffer was recently published in Neoplasia. Congratulations Lauren!

Congratulations to Carli Jones for being awarded a Johns Hopkins Pathology Young Investigators’ Day Translational Research Award for her work entitled “The microbial metabolite equol as a radiosensitizer and therapeutic agent in prostate cancer”. Strong work Carli!

Check out our recent publication in PNAS that identifies a potential relationship between bacterial infections and prostate cancer initiation. This study was championed by former Sfanos Lab graduate student Dr. Eva Shrestha. Congratulations Eva!

Congratulations to Sfanos lab undergraduate student Rebecca Sosa on being awarded the 3rd place Margaret Foti Foundation Undergraduate Prize for Cancer Research for her recent participation in the AACR Undergraduate Student Caucus and Poster Competition! Becca presented her research “Verification of Subclonal CDKN1B mRNA Loss in Primary Prostate Cancer Tissues using RNA in situ Hybridization”. Great work Becca!

AACR Undergraduate Student Caucus and Poster Competition