Postdoctoral fellow Dr. Angélica Cruz-Lebrón is a recipient of a 2026 Urology Care Foundation Research Scholar Award as part of the Society of Urologic Oncology Specialized Programs of Research Excellence. This award will enable Dr. Cruz-Lebrón to conduct a two-year investigation into the “Relationship between gut microbial ß-glucuronidases and androgens as a driver of prostate cancer risk and treatment resistance” under the mentorship of Dr. Sfanos. Congratulations Angélica!

Dr. Angélica Cruz-Lebrón

We are so excited to announce that Rebecca Morton, along with her colleague Jasmine Terrell, have been selected as the new Chief Graduate Students for the Pathobiology Program for the 2026–2027 academic year. Congratulations Rebecca and Jasmine!

Pathobiology graduate student Rebecca Morton

We recently celebrated the graduations of three Sfanos lab members! Dr. Megan Hess Check graduated from the Pathobiology PhD program, Chaw Akari San graduated from the Biotechnology MS program, and Alex Huang graduated with his BA in Public Health Studies from Johns Hopkins University! We are so proud of you Megan, Chaw, and Alex and we will miss you!

Alex Huang, BA

Chaw Akari San, MS

Megan Hess Check, PhD

Sarah Ernst was recently selected as one of the recipients of the 2025 Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Community Service. This award embodies Dr. King’s timeless values of service and selflessness through impactful volunteerism.

In January 2024, Sarah co-founded Maryland Lighthouse Reflections Grief and Wellness Care (RGWC) to address resource gaps for families in Maryland experiencing pregnancy, infant, or child loss.

Congratulations Sarah, we are so proud of you!!

Congratulations to Dr. Megan Hess Check for completing her Ph.D. in the Pathobiology graduate program!! Megan recently presented her dissertation work, entitled “Infection-induced inflammation as a driver of prostate cellular plasticity: investigation into genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic mechanisms”. Congratulations Megan, we are so proud of you!!

Congratulations to Pathobiology graduate student Tasnim Faiez, who recently won an award for best poster presentation at the Pathobiology graduate program annual retreat! Her poster was titled: Analyzing Prostate Cancer Tissue Microarrays with HALO: A Next-Generation Digital Pathology Tool. Pictured here along with co-authors Fernanda Caramella and Angelo De Marzo. Strong work Tas!

Congratulations to Tasnim Faiez, who is wrapping up her year as co-chief graduate student in the Johns Hopkins Pathobiology graduate program. Strong work Tas, and we are very proud of you!

Pathobiology chief graduate students Jin Liu and Tasnim Faiez with Dr. Ralph Hruban.

Many congratulations to the Sfanos lab members for absolutely crushing it at the annual Johns Hopkins Pathology Young Investigators’ Day!! Pathobiology student Megan Check received the top poster presenter award for excellence in basic research and Pathobiology student Tasnim Syakirah Faiez and Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Angélica Cruz Lebrón received awards for excellence in translational research. Congratulations Megan, Tas, and Angélica!

Sfanos lab Master’s student Meng Shi recently gave an excellent presentation of his Master’s thesis work “Characterization of RWPE-1 prostate organoids: Effects of culture medium composition, seeding density, and stromal cell co-culture”. Meng was a graduate student in the Biomedical Engineering graduate program at Johns Hopkins University. Congratulations Meng on your elegant thesis!

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].