Translational Cancer Science Research Fellow

Research focus

The Faltas Lab at Weill Cornell Medicine studies treatment resistance and tumor evolution in bladder cancer. A major focus of the laboratory is understanding how genetic and epigenetic processes interact during cancer evolution and treatment resistance. We are particularly interested in APOBEC3A-mediated mutagenesis, changes in cellular state, tumor heterogeneity, and the emergence of therapeutic vulnerabilities.

We study these questions using deeply characterized longitudinal patient cohorts, window-of-opportunity clinical trials, patient-derived models, and genomic, transcriptomic, single-cell, spatial, and whole-genome datasets. The laboratory combines computational genomics, experimental cancer biology, and clinical investigation, with collaborations across Weill Cornell Medicine, the New York Genome Center, and other academic and industry partners.

We are hiring a Translational Cancer Scientist to help develop and pursue new scientific directions across these programs.

The position

Computational analysis is central to this position, but this is not a traditional bioinformatics support role. The successful candidate will be expected to identify important scientific questions, formulate hypotheses, determine appropriate analytical and experimental approaches, interpret results in their biological and clinical context, and develop the work into grants and publications.

The position includes substantial responsibility for scientific and grant writing. It is intended for someone who enjoys writing, developing scientific arguments, learning new areas quickly, working across multiple projects, and contributing broadly to the intellectual direction of a research program.

Responsibilities

Develop new scientific questions and projects. Identify testable hypotheses, analytical approaches, technologies, and translational opportunities, and develop selected ideas into research projects, grants, and publications.

Lead an independent project. Develop and lead at least one major computational or translational project with the expectation of first-author publication.

Develop grant applications. Write and substantially contribute to specific aims, research strategies, and other scientific components of fellowship, foundation, NIH, DoD, and other major grant applications. This role is expected to contribute to approximately 10 grant applications each year, and grant development is a major component of the position.

Produce rapid scientific syntheses. Evaluate unfamiliar scientific areas quickly and determine what is established, what remains unresolved, and which experiments or analyses are most important to pursue.

Perform and interpret computational analyses. Analyze genomic, transcriptomic, single-cell, spatial, clinical, and public datasets and connect the results to biological mechanisms, testable hypotheses, and translational questions.

Introduce and implement new computational approaches. Identify useful analytical methods, establish them in the laboratory, and apply them to ongoing scientific questions.

Contribute across laboratory programs. Work closely with experimental scientists, computational researchers, clinicians, and collaborators and contribute intellectually to projects beyond the candidate’s primary independent project. 

Communicate the work. Contribute to manuscripts and presentations and present research at scientific meetings.

Opportunities

The successful candidate will have substantial protected time to lead an independent scientific project.

Projects originated and led by the candidate are expected to provide opportunities for first-author publication.

The laboratory will actively support fellowship, career-development, and independent grant applications for candidates pursuing scientific independence.

The position provides access to longitudinal patient cohorts, clinical trial specimens, genomic and single-cell datasets, patient-derived models, and experimental systems that are difficult to assemble in a single research environment.

Qualifications

Candidates should provide evidence of the following:

• PhD, MD, MD/PhD, or equivalent doctoral degree.

• At least one first-author, peer-reviewed original research paper demonstrating the ability to take a scientific question from conception through analysis, interpretation, and publication.

• Substantive prior involvement in grant writing, preferably a successful fellowship or grant proposal in which the candidate made a major intellectual and writing contribution. Experience with federal grant mechanisms is a plus.

• Demonstrated ability to formulate hypotheses and identify new scientific directions rather than solely perform predefined analyses.

• Proficiency in R and/or Python, with the ability to independently install, configure, troubleshoot, and apply unfamiliar computational packages or analytical tools rapidly, typically within days, and use them effectively on complex biomedical datasets.

• Strong scientific writing skills and the ability to develop a clear scientific argument.

• Experience with reproducible computational analysis, including well-documented code, analysis inputs, and workflows that allow results to be reproduced. Ability to interpret computational findings in their biological and clinical context and communicate effectively with experimental scientists and clinicians.

• Evidence of high productivity, initiative, independence, and the ability to move several scientific questions forward in parallel.

• Persistence in working through challenging scientific and analytical problems and willingness to recognize when an approach or hypothesis is not supported by the data.

  How to apply

  Please send the following email with the subject line “Translational Cancer Scientist — [Name]”:

  • CV, including a complete publication list.

  • A one-page letter describing a scientific question you would be interested in pursuing in the Faltas Lab and how your prior work prepares you to address it.

  • PDF copies of three most important publications

  • Contact information for three references. References will not be contacted without prior notification.

    Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.