Quantitative Optical Tomography for Pre-clinical Radiotherapy Research
Postdoctoral positions are immediately available in the Biomedical Imaging and Radiation Technology (BIRT) Lab in the Division of Medical Physics and Engineering in the Department of Radiation Oncology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) in Dallas. The candidate will be tasked to advance 3D optical-guided system for pre-clinical radiation therapy (RT) research, specifically, the development of a quantitative fluorescence and bioluminescence tomography (FT/BLT) system. The optical tomography system is expected to localize tumor in vivo, guide irradiation, and quantify treatment response.
The postdoctoral positions at UTSW are full-time research positions. Initial appointment will be for one year with renewable appointments for subsequent years. The successful candidates, if interested, will also be eligible for basic clinical medical physics training and a tuition fee waiver for the enrollment into a didactic certificate program with CAMPEP-accredited courses covering essential medical physics didactic elements for individuals entering the medical physics profession through an alternative pathway.
The project has a strong translation component. The postdoctoral fellows will work closely with the principal investigator Dr. Ken Wang, industrial partners, and academic collaborators in translating the research development to scientific community. The candidate will play a key role in the development of the advanced optical system and reconstruction algorithm, and in performing system validation with tumor models. The project is highly multi-disciplinary involving engineering, optics, radiation physics, biology, and industrial component. There are about 600 researchers utilizing small animal irradiators for research investigation. The success of this project will provide significant advance in functional image-guided technology for pre-clinical RT research.
Dr. Wang’s group is supported by long term NIH R01 and R21 grants and Texas CPRIT funding. Beyond the funding resources, the candidate will also expose to the strong research environment established in the Division of Medical Physics. The division is funded by 10 active NIH R01s and state funding in the fields of pre-clinical technology development, artificial intelligence techniques to facilitate RT, imaging processing and image-guidance techniques, and adaptive RT. There are 40+ postdoctoral fellows in the division with established academic training program in place.
The multi-disciplinary project, strong research environment, and medical physics pathway provides a very unique opportunity to prepare the candidate in pursuing academic faculty, industrial position or medical physics residency.
We are looking for the candidates with strong motivation, independent problem solving, demonstrated publication record, and good verbal and written communication skills. Successful candidates should have experience in independently developing engineering systems and a strong background in biomedical optics. Candidates holding a PhD degree in biomedical engineering, physics, optics, or engineering are encouraged to apply.
Salary is based on candidates’ experience and NIH scale with competitive benefits. Information on our postdoctoral training program and benefits can be found in our Postdoc Handbook or at http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/postdocs.
Interested candidates should send a statement of interest, CV, and the contact of 3 references to: Kang-Hsin (Ken) Wang, Ph.D. Associate Professor UT Southwestern Medical Center 5323 Harry Hines Blvd. Dallas, TX 75390- 9303 [email protected] https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/labs/maia/ https://profiles.utsouthwestern.edu/profile/196778/kang-hsin-wang.html
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