Faculty Position in Computational Pathology

Friday 16th June 2023

Faculty Position in Computational Pathology
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

NEW YORK, NEW YORK (USA). Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) is one of the world’s premier cancer centers, committed to exceptional patient care, leading-edge research, and superb educational programs.

The Pathology Department and Laboratory Medicine at MSK is seeking an outstanding faculty candidate at the level of Assistant, Associate, or full Member to fill a position dedicated to digital and computational pathology research. Expertise in the areas of machine learning, computer vision applied to digital image analysis or direct-from-tissue microscopic imaging technologies is required, and prior exposure to the analysis of medical images, particularly digital pathology images, is preferred. Applicants must have a PhD, MD or equivalent degree. The ability to conduct independent research is required and a history of obtaining competitive grant funding is desirable.

Led by Dr. Kojo Elenitoba-Johnson, the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at MSK is one of the largest clinical practices in the United States dedicated to the diagnosis of cancer. The department employs over 125 pathologists supported by a dedicated team of over 1200 allied health staff and state of the art laboratory infrastructure including surgical pathology, immunohistochemistry, cytology, hematopathology, flow cytometry, hematology, immunology, transfusion medicine/cell therapy, microbiology, clinical chemistry, proteomics, cytogenetics, and molecular pathology laboratories.

The Department has made a significant investment in digital pathology, with routine scanning of diagnostic slides both prospectively and from the archives of 25 million slides. There is a wealth of image data with accompanying clinical and genomic annotation, allowing for highly impactful research in computational pathology and advanced imaging technologies. The Department has committed to exploring novel technologies for the analysis of pathology specimens and supports a wide range of research using machine learning and computationally assisted imaging platforms. Collaborations are available with members of the diagnostic pathology faculty and with computational faculty within the Department and other institutional programs (Computational Biology, Computational Oncology, Medical Physics, Radiology, etc.). Joint appointment in one or more of these collaborating programs is possible. Opportunities exist to conduct highly impactful research that will influence the practice of pathology and improve patient care as novel technologies pervade the discipline.

The Warren Alpert Center for Digital and Computational Pathology (WAC) was established in 2017, with a generous support from The Warren Alpert Foundation. Since the inception of the WAC, the Department of Pathology at MSKCC has assumed a leadership role in digital pathology, technology development, computational innovation, and the operational integration of digital pathology into clinical practice. Through the WAC, we have established an infrastructure for deep learning, which includes a high-performance compute cluster; custom-developed, scanner-agnostic digital slide viewer software; and development of the Honest Broker for Bioinformatics Technology (HoBBIT) database and application, allowing for the management of our growing archive of pathology images and associated data by enabling queries, de-identification for research, and the transfer of digital images and data for user review.

We are seeking candidates to develop novel research programs to drive translational computational methods in Pathology, serving as a liaison between Pathology faculty and Computational Oncology, Clinical Bioinformatics, Medical Physics, and Radiology informatics. The candidate will plan and execute research projects with a focus on precision pathology and cancer care. In addition to conducting primary and collaborative research, the faculty member will have educational responsibilities for medical and graduate students, post-doctoral students, and fellows. Faculty will be eligible to hold appointments in the Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC) Graduate School and/or the Tri-Institutional Computational Biology for Medicine program across MSK and WCMC, providing access to exceptional graduate students.

Salary: $200,000-$308,000

Faculty compensation is based on multiple variables. This range represents annual salary only and does not include supplemental performance-based pay or any one-time payments that eligible candidates may be offered at the time of hire.

In this role, you will:

-Serve as a Scientific Director of the Warren Alpert Center in the Warren Alpert Center for Digital and Computational Pathology
-Lead and support a research program on image analysis/machine learning/computer vision as applied to digital images
-Help create computer-assisted diagnostic tools for scalable precision pathology diagnostics
-Automate data-driven diagnostic workflows to allow pathologists to focus on value-added contributions
-Represent the pathology faculty perspective for institutional initiatives in the digital, computational, and AI space
-Serve as a mentor to graduate students, PhD candidates, and MSK machine learning and data scientists
-Drive and sustain a culture of continuous improvement

The ideal candidate should:

-Have a PhD or MD or equivalent degree.
-Have expertise in the specific area of machine learning applied to image analysis.
-Be a problem solver who can manage complex, high quantity and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.
-Be good decision maker, with proven success of making timely decisions that keep the organization moving forward.
-Be action oriented and eager to take on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
-Be committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in research collaborations

Please send a CV and letter outlining your interest to:

Kojo Elenitoba-Johnson, M.D.
Chairman, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
1275 York Avenue
New York, NY 10065
Email: [email protected]

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is an EO M/F/Disability/Vet Employer.