Faculty Position: Head and Neck Cancer Research Scientist

The posting

Job Description

Position Description The Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center are seeking an exceptional scientific investigator engaged in discovery and translational sciences in cancers of the head and neck. The ideal candidate will be an outstanding scholar with a record of exceptional achievement and demonstrated ability to drive discovery to translational science, and through collaboration, to clinical interventions in head and neck cancers. The ideal candidate will be a mid-career basic/translational scientist with a track record of substantial scientific accomplishments.

To achieve the overall goal of the Head and Neck Disease Group (DG) of Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center to translate innovative discoveries to clinical interventions in our patients through advanced clinical trials, we are seeking a translational scientist with expertise in biomarkers of Head and Neck cancer/pre-cancer, immuno-oncology, cellular engineering in head and neck cancer, genetics, virology, and/or cancer vaccine development. We seek to identify mid-career investigators who collaborate with our DG multi-disciplinary team; serve as a mentor to promote junior faculty development, grant writing, and program development; and lead the expansion and development of scientific program in head and neck cancers at Mayo Clinic. The position is accompanied by leadership opportunities and an endowed Chair.

Why Choose Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center? With 440 members and >1500 aligned cancer physicians working in six Cancer Research Programs (Cancer Prevention, Survivorship & Control; Cancer Risk Assessment, Early Detection & Interception; Cancer Genomics, Signaling, & Metastasis; Cancer Immunology & Immunotherapeutics; Novel Therapeutics & Therapeutic Modalities; Advanced Clinical Trials and Translational Sciences) and 15 Disease Groups focused on clinical trials, MCCCC is a global leader and represents the pinnacle of cancer care, research and education and training. Every year, across its three enterprise sites (Rochester, Minnesota; Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona; and Jacksonville, Florida), MCCCC physicians provide expert cancer diagnosis and treatment to more than 150,000 unique patients from across the nation and the globe. MCCCC created one of the nation’s first National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Cancer Center Research Programs focused on early cancer detection and interception: Cancer Risk Assessment, Early Detection, and Interception (REDI). The Center’s other five transdisciplinary research programs include Cancer Prevention, Control, and Survivorship; Cancer Genomics, Signaling, and Metastasis; Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapeutics; Novel Therapeutics and Therapeutic Modalities; and Advanced Clinical Trials and Translational Research.

The MCCCC Mission: To inspire hope and promote health and healing through integrated research, clinical practice, and education, centered around our primary value: the needs of the patient come first.

The MCCCC Vision: To be a global cancer authority: transforming cancer research and practice to assure that our discoveries, knowledge, and expertise are accessible to all, within and beyond our walls, at anyplace and anytime.

MCCCC Goals:

1. To cure cancers through translation of innovative transdisciplinary science to new means of prevention, early detection, interception, intervention, and unparalleled care delivery.
2. To transform cancer research and practice using category of one data platforms, digital technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and intelligent automation, creating new models for community and patient engagement, and the conduct of research, clinical trials and patient-centered care delivery in clinical, home, and community settings.
3. To use Mayo Clinic Platform to engage patients and communities in our catchment areas and across the nation and the world in cancer research and distributed and decentralized clinical trials.
4. To educate, train, and mentor the next generation of cancer physicians, scientists, and leaders.

Over the past year, MCCCC has continued to achieve exceptional performance metrics, with high levels of cancer research funding (reporting $61.2M in annual peer-reviewed funding ($41.1M from NCI) and $98.7M in industry and non-peer reviewed funding). The Center currently has over 80 multi-investigator programmatic grants including 6 NCI Specialized Programs of Research Emphasis (SPORES): Myeloma, Ovarian Cancer, Breast Cancer, Liver/Hepatobiliary Cancers, Prostate Cancer, and Sarcoma. In 2025, clinical trial accrual has remained robust, reporting the Center’s highest accrual to therapeutic interventional trials: 2,624 (12% of newly registered cases), with 6,588 interventional accruals (30% of newly registered patients) and 10,367 non-interventional accruals. In 2025, MCCCC members published an exceptional number (1776) of peer-reviewed academic works, 24% of which were published in high impact journals.

Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Otolaryngology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester is a national leader in complex conditions of the ear, nose, throat, airway, and head and neck. Our practice sees over 30,000 patients annually from 55 U.S. states and territories and 66 different countries with subspecialty expertise spanning head and neck oncology, otology/neurotology, rhinology, laryngology, facial reconstruction, sleep surgery, and pediatric otolaryngology. Several high functioning multidisciplinary clinics and teams effectively and rapidly accrue patients to prospective clinical trials. As a high-volume surgical team, the Department has access to both significant archival and fresh tissue from a wide range of tumor types. Department faculty are actively investigating tumor microenvironments, methylation markers, circulating tumor DNA, the use of artificial intelligence and other computational tools to build multi-modal, multi-layered predictive models relevant to head and neck cancers, tumor microenvironments, and imaging modalities.

Beyond the research capabilities, Mayo Clinic has resources for commercialization. Mayo Clinic Ventures is our in-house, mission-driven, global leader in research and technology commercialization, known for its rigorous approach to bringing inventions to market. Mayo Clinica Ventures develop, manage, protect and license technology that saves lives and advances patient care.

The position comes with a highly competitive compensation package with sustained intramural funding, competitive start-up funding, dedicated laboratory facilities, capital equipment funding, technical and computational resources, and exceptional benefits.

Why Choose Mayo Clinic? Mayo Clinic is a premier, integrated academic medical center consistently ranked among the top hospitals in the nation. All campuses are experiencing strategic growth in cancer immunotherapy, drug discovery & development, regenerative medicine, and translational discovery science. As noted above, Mayo Clinic offers a highly collaborative academic medical center environment and strong platforms for implementation, evaluation, and pragmatic scientist. Faculty benefit from:

• Membership in Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, the nation’s only three-site, NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.
• Access to institutional expertise in AI, computational and digital biology, biostatistics, epidemiology, bioinformatics, and the Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery.
• Opportunities to collaborate across Mayo Clinic sites to evaluate programs, models of care, and implementation strategies using clinical, operational, patient-reported, and population-level data.
• A growing environment for evaluating new models of care, conducting decentralized clinical trials, and advancing data-enabled approaches to improving cancer care delivery.
• Dedicated institutional support for research development, regulatory navigation, commercialization pathways, and team-based science.

We offer:

• Competitive startup and sustained institutional support
• Investment in team science and program-building initiatives
• Access to a $1B+ annual research enterprise
• Infrastructure for IND-enabling studies and early-phase clinical trials
• Exceptional benefits, including retirement and pension programs
• A culture that values innovation, inclusion, and transdisciplinary collaboration
• Mayo Clinic is committed to creating an inclusive and equitable environment, recognizing that diverse research teams drive more innovative solutions to complex biomedical challenges.

Qualifications

Credentials of a successful candidate will include:

• MD and/or PhD, or relevant advanced degree.
• Demonstrated evidence of an independent research program, with a strong track record of extramural, peer-reviewed funding.
• A strong track record of high-quality publications.
• Evidence of collaborative multidisciplinary team science and the ability to build multidisciplinary teams and compete successfully for extramural, peer-reviewed funding.
• National recognition/experience in the field.
• Leadership and training/mentoring experience and expertise.
• Evidence of leadership and commitment to mentorship within an inclusive academic environment.

Appointment level (Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor) will be commensurate with experience and years in rank, scholarly achievement, leadership experience, and funding record.