About City of Hope

City of Hope is an independent biomedical research and treatment organization for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases.

Founded in 1913, City of Hope is a leader in bone marrow transplantation and immunotherapy such as CAR T cell therapy. City of Hope’s translational research and personalized treatment protocols advance care throughout the world. Human synthetic insulin, monoclonal antibodies and numerous breakthrough cancer drugs are based on technology developed at the institution. AccessHope™, a subsidiary launched in 2019 serves employers and their health care partners by providing access to City of Hope’s specialized cancer expertise.

A National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, City of Hope is ranked among the nation’s “Best Hospitals” in cancer by U.S. News & World Report and received Magnet Recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Its main campus is located near Los Angeles, with additional locations throughout Southern California and in Arizona.

City of Hope’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We believe diversity, equity and inclusion is key in serving our mission to provide compassionate patient care, drive innovative discovery, and advance vital education focused on eliminating cancer and diabetes in all of our communities. Our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ensures we bring the full range of skills, perspectives, cultural backgrounds and experiences to our work -- and that our teams align with the people we serve in order to build trust and understanding. We are dedicated to fostering a community that embraces diversity - in ideas, backgrounds and perspectives; this is reflected in our work and represented in our people.

Position Summary

Join our successful and productive research team at the Beckman Research Institute at City of Hope where we are studying the biological mechanisms of breast cancer susceptibility in the context of aging. This current position is focused on using cell and molecular techniques to examine emergent mechanical properties of epithelial cells that are highly susceptible to breast cancer initiation.

This mechanobiology work is the product of a long-term, NIH funded, collaboration with a bioengineering group at UC Berkeley. We are using, and evolving, a mechano-node pore sensing (mechano-NPS) platform to explore unique mechanical properties of cells that are associated with chronological or biological age, lineage, and cancer progression stage. We hypothesized that mechano-NPS can detect disease states based on the emergent mechanical properties that arise from the underlying molecular networks that define lineage and disease states. Clinically useful genetic testing relies on a handful of known monogenic risk traits, but we hypothesize that emergent mechanical properties, measured from just a few hundred cells, are a characteristic of the biology that underlies cancer susceptible states, even those that are polygenic or epigenetic in nature and are passed within a family but that so far have defied definition. The research project will be focused (i) on identifying the molecular networks that underly emergent mechanical states, and (ii) on translating mechano-NPS for use as a cancer risk assessment tool.

Basic education, experience and skills required for consideration:

• A doctorate degree (e.g., PhD, MD, DO, DVM) in a biomedical related field, similar degrees in physics and engineering also will be considered.
• Experience in molecular biology, cell culture, mass spectrometry, lenti and retro-viral transduction techniques.
• A strong track record of scientific productivity that is appropriate to a postdoctoral candidate.
• Comfortable with genomics-scale data analysis in R, MATLAB, or Python, and application of statistical analyses.
• Ability to keep meticulous records.
• Willing to hear and incorporate feedback from colleagues, will offer constructive critique of other peoples’ work, and be a team player.

Additional Information:

• As a condition of employment, City of Hope requires staff to comply with all state and federal vaccination mandates.
• For more information on Dr. Mark LaBarge’s research, please visit here.