Postdoctoral Scholar

US-OR-Portland

Requisition ID: 2026-40924
Position Category: Postdoctoral
Job Type: Postdoctoral
Position Type: Regular Full-Time
Posting Department: Center for Experimental Therapeutics - Knight Cancer Institute
Posting Salary Range: DOE
Posting FTE: 1.00
Posting Schedule: Monday through Friday
Posting Hours: 8:30am to 5:00pm plus occasional nights and weekends
HR Mission: School of Medicine
Drug Testable: No

Department Overview

The OHSU Knight Cancer Institute is an internationally recognized leader in cancer research and care, powered by a historic $2 billion gift from Phil and Penny Knight. With a bold mission to revolutionize cancer prevention, detection, and treatment, we offer an environment where innovation thrives, collaboration is central, and your work can have a lasting impact. The institute cultivates a welcoming and supportive environment for caregivers, researchers, and support personnel. Knight affiliates subscribe to three guiding principles: we are bold, we are supportive, and we work as a connected team in our fight to end cancer as we know it. We¿d love for you to join us!

Every Knight Cancer employee is expected to embody our guiding principles:

• We act BOLDLY—Breakthroughs require pushing the boundaries of science, exploring new frontiers, and thinking differently
• We SUPPORT each other—Respect leads to trust, which leads to excellence
• We work as a CONNECTED team — We must leverage our collective brain power to conquer cancer because no one individual can do it alone

Function/Duties of Position

The Center for Experimental Therapeutics (CET) at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute is seeking highly motivated Postdoctoral Fellows to join the Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery laboratory. Our multidisciplinary team integrates chemical biology, cancer biology, pharmacology, and translational research to discover and develop first-in-class therapeutics for cancer. Candidates should have a strong background in cell biology, molecular biology, immunology, or a related discipline.

The successful applicant will contribute to projects focused on understanding tumor heterogeneity, tumor microenvironment, and mechanisms of therapeutic response and resistance using cutting-edge experimental models and translational approaches. Ideal candidates will be intellectually curious, highly collaborative, organized, and well-versed in constructive problem solving. Experience with mammalian cell culture, mouse models, molecular biology techniques, flow cytometry, microscopy, or immunological assays is highly desirable. The selected candidate will design and execute experiments, analyze and interpret data, and contribute to the generation of project-related documents and presentations. They will collaborate with a multidisciplinary team to establish project priorities, develop short- and long-term research plans, and communicate findings through manuscripts, grant applications, and presentations.

The successful candidate will receive mentorship in experimental design, scientific communication, grant writing, and career development while working within a collaborative environment that supports publication in high-impact journals and translation of discoveries toward clinical application. The successful candidate will be responsible for compliance with applicable Corporate and Divisional Policies and procedures. They will demonstrate a high degree of responsibility in maintaining scientific standards, and safe laboratory practices for the work unit.

Required Qualifications

• Doctoral degree in Biology (Cell, molecular, cancer, immunology) or a related discipline
• Strong background and training in cell/cancer biology science and experimental techniques
• Experience in designing and experiments to probe disease mechanism, microenvironment, and immune parameters.
• Experience in performing Animal cell culture, Flow cytometry techniques including cell sorting, FACS, Immunoblotting, Immunofluorescence, Molecular cloning strategies, PCR and other molecular biology techniques
  
• Must have the ability to interact with an interdisciplinary group including disease area biologists, chemists, data analysts, laboratory biologists, and computer scientists
• Ability to prioritize multiple tasks at one time
• Excellent communication, analytical and organizational skills: both written and verbal, with the ability to develop, implement and clearly communicate scientific concepts and progress to team
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team while being collaborative in resolving problems
• Must be proficient with computers running Windows and PC applications e.g. MS Excel, Word and PowerPoint, Prism)

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with orthotopic mouse models of cancer
• Experience with spectral flow cytometry
• At least one first author publication

Additional Details

Apply online. Please be sure to upload a Cover Letter and Resume/CV.

We offer a variety of benefits on top of joining a thriving organization:

• Medical, dental and vision coverage at no or low cost to employees
  • Covered 100% for full-time employees and 88% for dependents
• Several retirement plans to choose from with contributions from OHSU
• 120 hours of vacation time per year
• 96 hours of sick leave a year (prorated for part-time employees)
• 9 paid holidays per year
• Commuter subsidies
• Tuition reimbursement
• Access to group life insurance, disability insurance and other supplemental benefits
• Annual Raises
• Growth/Development Opportunities
• Employee discounts to local and major businesses

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