Open Postdoctoral position, faculty mentor Jose Vilches-Moure

This Comparative and Experimental Pathology Fellowship is offered by the Department of Comparative Medicine at Stanford University’s School of Medicine.
The main goals of the fellowship are to:

1. provide a strong background in collaborative comparative/translational pathology (including but not limited to phenotyping, cancer biology, infectious disease, neuropathology, cardiovascular disease, preclinical toxicology studies, immunology and developmental biology),
2. enhance the candidate’s familiarity with a wide range of laboratory animals in diagnostic and research scenarios in intellectually-rigorous academic and industry settings,
3. enhance the candidate’s familiarity with the approach to human pathology and diagnostics (as opportunities arise), and
4. expose the candidate to industry research pathology roles in a wholly digital, computationally intensive scientific pathology environment (as opportunities arise).

The successful candidate will assist with diagnostic and experimental anatomic pathology support for Stanford’s AAALAC-accredited animal facilities, will participate in training rounds and other educational opportunities in the Pathology Department, and will provide collaborative research pathology support for investigators at Stanford University’s School of Medicine and Stanford University at large. Additionally, the successful candidate will be able to collaborate with discovery and research pathology teams at regional industry partners as opportunities arise. At regional industry partners, the successful candidate will also have the opportunity to learn about computational pathology for both brightfield and multiple immunofluorescence studies, machine learning / artificial intelligence (AI), and new tissue-based technologies (e.g. spatial transcriptomics).
Both at Stanford and at industry partners, the fellow will train under the supervision of ACVP boarded experimental pathologists (anatomic and clinical) and will have the opportunity to be part of multidisciplinary research teams.
Additionally, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to work side-by-side with a fantastic team of ACLAM-boarded clinicians and laboratory animal medicine residents as part of a holistic approach to case diagnostics.
Duties and Responsibilities:

• Perform and/or assist in necropsies of clinical and research cases submitted to the Stanford’s Comparative Pathology Necropsy Service
• Communicate effectively with the laboratory animal medicine staff (including senior clinicians, residents, and veterinary care staff) regarding individual clinical cases
• Attend and present findings to the veterinary care team at weekly clinical rounds
• Attend weekly Comparative and Experimental Pathology lab meetings
• Actively participate in, and provide pathology support for, graduate student projects in the departmental Master of Laboratory Animal Science (MLAS) program
• Coordinate sample preparation and submission to other associated diagnostic units, including the clinical pathology lab and the histology lab
• Lead instructional hands-on necropsy and dissection workshops (attendees include graduate students, research scientists, and laboratory managers)
• Lead instructional rounds on laboratory animal pathology to lab animal medicine residents in preparation for the ACLAM board examination
• Lead and present unique and/or challenging cases during the bi-weekly, tri-institutional Laboratory Animal Pathology Rounds (LAPR) co-hosted by Stanford University’s Veterinary Service Center, the University of California’s Comparative Pathology Laboratory, and the California National Primate Research Center
• Provide consultation services to investigators seeking comparative pathology research support
• Attend and participate in rounds and diagnostic case sign-offs in the Department of Pathology (as opportunities arise)
• Engage in (and actively contribute to) multidisciplinary research teams (both at Stanford and at industry partners)
• Engage in scholarly activity as opportunities arise

Fellowship breakdown:
The successful candidate will dedicate the majority of their time at Stanford University’s Department of Comparative Medicine, with short-term rotations through the Pathology Department (rounds, case sign-offs, and lecture series) and at the off-site industry partner as opportunities become available. The breakdown is flexible, and can be adjusted on an individual basis depending on the candidate’s career goals and the hosting institution’s operational needs and opportunities.