Assistant Professional Researcher - Okada lab

Position Description

Assistant Professional Researcher
- Okada lab

The Okada lab in the Department of Neurological Surgery at UCSF seeks a highly motivated Assistant Professional Researcher to provide scientific leadership in the development and implementation of innovative research programs advancing therapies for malignant brain tumors. The successful candidate will work collaboratively with faculty, trainees, and national and international research partners to accelerate the translation of discoveries in brain tumor immunotherapy into improved patient care.

Assistant Professional Researcher
- Okada lab

The Okada lab in the Department of Neurological Surgery at UCSF seeks a highly motivated Assistant Professional Researcher to provide scientific leadership in the development and implementation of innovative research programs advancing therapies for malignant brain tumors. The successful candidate will work collaboratively with faculty, trainees, and national and international research partners to accelerate the translation of discoveries in brain tumor immunotherapy into improved patient care.

The primary objective of this position is to advance breakthrough therapeutic strategies for brain tumors through integrated studies of tumor immunology, genetics, epigenetics, and mechanisms of treatment resistance. The incumbent will provide scientific leadership within multidisciplinary, grant-funded research programs, identify actionable therapeutic vulnerabilities, and develop innovative therapeutic approaches. This position serves as a senior scientific collaborator, contributing to strategic planning, project management, experimental design, data interpretation, and research program development across multiple concurrent initiatives.

The Professional Researcher will work closely with faculty and staff across UCSF to foster interdisciplinary collaborations, while playing a leading role in large national and international research consortia. The incumbent will also mentor graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and research staff, providing scientific guidance, technical training, and oversight of laboratory and computational research activities.

• Provide scientific leadership and project management for funded collaborative research programs focused on brain tumor immunology, metabolism, and immunotherapy.
• Participate in weekly one-on-one meetings with the PI, weekly laboratory meetings, and project-specific meetings, except when laboratory responsibilities require otherwise.
• Train and mentor new laboratory members in laboratory safety, cell culture techniques, specimen processing, spectral flow cytometry, bioinformatics, data management, data security, and other laboratory methodologies as needed. Provide ongoing feedback, evaluate trainee progress, and communicate progress to the PI.
• Promote a culture of scientific rigor, laboratory safety, regulatory compliance, and research integrity, serving as a role model and resource for laboratory personnel.
• Coordinate multiple collaborative projects simultaneously, ensuring timely completion of milestones, accurate documentation, and effective communication among collaborators.
• Work flexible hours, including occasional evenings, weekends, or holidays, as needed to accommodate time-sensitive experiments or the processing of clinical specimens.

• MD, PhD, or equivalent doctoral degree.
• Clinical experience or a strong understanding of the clinical management of patients with malignant brain tumors, including neurosurgery, neuro-oncology, and contemporary molecular neuropathology.
• Demonstrated expertise in cancer biology and cancer immunology, including immunotherapeutic approaches.
• Extensive knowledge of genetics and epigenetics, including experimental design, execution, data analysis, interpretation, and scientific reporting.
• Demonstrated ability to independently design, execute, troubleshoot, and analyze experiments using:
  1) spectral flow cytometry;
  2) real-time cell killing assays;
  3) CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing;
  4) PCR/qPCR; and
  5) relevant preclinical experimental models.
• Demonstrated ability to independently design, operation, troubleshoot, and analyze high-throughput sequencing studies, including
  1) bulk RNA-seq;
  2) single-cell RNA-seq (including GEX/VDJ);
  3) single-cell ATAC-seq;
  4) single-cell spatial transcriptomics;
  5) long-read sequencing technologies.
• Proficiency in computational biology and scientific programming (R and/or Python) within Linux-based high-performance computing environments.
• Experience with version control and collaborative coding platforms (e.g., Git Hub).

• MD/PhD is preferred.
• Board certification (U.S. or international) preferred.
• Demonstrated success in securing competitive research funding through grants or research awards.
• Strong publication record demonstrating sustained research productivity in the…