Maryland lab seeks postdoctoral fellow for pancreatic cancer immunotherapy program
The University of Maryland School of Medicine is recruiting a postdoctoral fellow for a collaborative cancer immunology program built around pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and combination immunotherapy. The position brings together the Laboratory for Cancer Immunology, led by Dr. Chozha Rathinam, and the Viral Engineering & Translational Laboratory, led by Dr. Bolni Nagalo, in Baltimore. The scientific center of gravity is clear: how to push immune-resistant solid tumors into a state where antigen presentation, dendritic cell activation, and T-cell priming can occur with enough force to matter.
This is not a generic training post. The work is organized around a specific therapeutic logic: pair tumor-pulsed dendritic cell vaccines with oncolytic viral therapy and ask whether the two modalities can amplify one another inside the hostile pancreatic tumor microenvironment. Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most immune-refractory solid tumors in translational oncology, in part because tumor-associated suppression blunts antigen presentation and narrows effective T-cell responses before they can gain traction. The proposed program is designed to counter that biology directly.
A strong postdoctoral candidate would enter a multidisciplinary setting where cancer immunology meets virology and translational immunotherapy. The laboratories intend to study how oncolytic viruses reshape the tumor microenvironment, improve dendritic cell activation, and strengthen antigen presentation pathways that are essential for a productive antitumor response. In practical immunologic terms, the project is asking whether viral perturbation of the tumor niche can create a window in which dendritic cells become better able to process tumor antigens, present them through MHC pathways, and prime cytotoxic T cells more effectively.
That sequence is the scientific hinge of the role.
Dendritic cells and oncolytic viruses sit at the center of the design
The research program places dendritic cell biology at the forefront. Investigators are focusing on dendritic cell-based cancer immunotherapy, including tumor-pulsed DC vaccines, and on the cellular machinery that governs antigen processing, antigen presentation, and T-cell activation. These are not abstract immunology exercises. In a tumor like PDAC, dendritic cell dysfunction can leave the immune system seeing too little, too late. If a vaccine can restore or intensify the flow of tumor antigen to professional antigen-presenting cells, and if an oncolytic virus can further inflame the microenvironment in a controlled way, the combination may be stronger than either component alone.
The virology side of the collaboration is equally central. Oncolytic viruses are being used as more than cell-killing agents; in this setting, they are tools for modifying the immune contexture of the tumor. Their potential value lies in how they may expose neoantigens, recruit immune cells, and convert an immunologically cold lesion into one that is more visible to the immune system. For a disease defined by dense stroma, suppressive myeloid cells, and poor immune infiltration, that mechanism is biologically compelling even before any clinical translation is attempted.
The position also extends into broader questions of tumor-immune interaction. Current projects include characterization of the tumor microenvironment and immune suppression, the interplay among tumor cells, dendritic cells, myeloid cells, and lymphocytes, and inflammatory pathways that may drive immune evasion. Those questions matter because pancreatic cancer does not fail immunotherapy for a single reason. It fails because antigen presentation is weak, trafficking is poor, suppressive circuits are active, and the tissue architecture itself resists immune engagement.
Candidates are expected to bring technical range and intellectual independence
Applicants are expected to hold a Ph.D., M.D./Ph.D., or an equivalent doctoral degree in immunology, cancer biology, molecular biology, cell biology, or a related field, preferably earned within the past three years. The ideal fellow will have a strong publication record, clear scientific productivity, and the ability to contribute independently while working across laboratories. Experience with multicolor flow cytometry, immune profiling, dendritic cell biology, tumor antigen presentation, and T-cell activation is explicitly relevant to the work.
Other useful expertise includes isolation and characterization of immune cells from solid tumors, mouse models of pancreatic cancer and other malignancies, and core molecular biology methods such as Western blotting, RT-qPCR, ELISA, and confocal microscopy. Experience with oncolytic viruses, viral vectors, bioinformatics, single-cell technologies, or spatial biology is also welcome. The project’s structure suggests a workflow in which cellular phenotyping, mechanistic immunology, and translational readouts must be integrated rather than handled in isolation.
The emphasis on collaboration is not incidental. The fellow will work across both Rathinam and Nagalo laboratories, with access to core facilities in flow cytometry, genomics, imaging, and animal research. For a postdoctoral scientist interested in cancer immunotherapy, that combination offers a concentrated training environment: wet-lab experimentation, immune monitoring, and translational thinking in the same setting.
The career path is tied to translational immunotherapy, not routine bench work
This position is built for a candidate who wants to study why immune therapies fail in solid tumors and how combination strategies might improve the odds. The work is especially relevant to translational cancer immunotherapy, where the gap between elegant mechanism and real tumor control is often widest in pancreatic cancer. By combining dendritic cell vaccines with oncolytic viral therapy, the program is trying to intervene at two critical points at once: antigen visibility and immune activation.
The application process is straightforward and rolling, with materials submitted directly to Dr. Chozha Rathinam. The school identifies itself as an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer and encourages applications from diverse backgrounds and experiences. For candidates with expertise in tumor immunology, virology, or antigen presentation biology, the scientific opportunity is unusually focused: a defined tumor type, a clearly articulated combination strategy, and a collaborative framework built to move mechanistic immunology toward therapeutic relevance.