Tenure-Track Faculty Position- University of Kentucky Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery
The University of Kentucky (UK) Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, in conjunction with the Markey Cancer Center, are jointly seeking an exceptional candidate for a full-time, tenure-track faculty position at the level of Assistant, Associate or Full Professor to actively contribute to the basic and translational research mission in our head and neck cancer program. The successful candidate must have a Ph.D., M.D. or M.D./Ph.D. degree and will be expected to bring and maintain a vigorous, independent, extramurally funded research program, preferably from the NCI, as well as participate actively in collaborative investigations and education programs. Examples of preferred basic research emphases related to head and neck cancers include: HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancers; signaling pathways contributing to growth, progression or metastasis; mechanisms of tumor resistance; tumor metabolism; cancer microenvironment; cancer genomics; and, epigenetic regulation. In addition, there will be opportunities to work with medical students and otolaryngology residents who have research requirements and dedicated block time for research, and as a faculty member in the department, the successful candidate will participate in all departmental activities. Competitive start-up funds and faculty salary will be provided, commensurate with level of experience. In addition, wet laboratory space will be provided in the new, open-format, Healthy Kentucky Research Building (HKRB), which houses the majority of cancer basic researchers and is in close proximity to state-of-the-art research cores.
Kentucky has among the highest incidence of head and neck and HPV-associated cancers in the country. HPV positive oropharyngeal cancer patients form a large portion of our head and neck oncology work. As a major referral center the UK Medical Center sees over 90% of all head and neck cancer cases within our large referral base of Eastern and Central Kentucky, Western W. Virginia, Southeast Ohio and Northeastern Tennessee. We have a team of four head and neck surgeons who participate in the clinical and research activities of the Markey Cancer Center. They are eager to collaborate with basic scientists to provide a better understanding of the underlying pathophysiology as well as the treatment and outcomes of these complicated patients.
As the only NCI-designated cancer center in Kentucky, the MCC provides a broad range of state-of-the-art core facilities and modern laboratory space design to facilitate a collaborative research environment. Situated on a campus with all six health profession colleges, the cancer center is located within a vibrant and expanding basic and clinical research community with ample opportunities for collaboration within and across its research programs. In addition, the successful candidate will join MCC research members specializing in head and neck cancer that, include: a team of cancer prevention researchers with an interest in the molecular and genetic epidemiology of head and neck cancers; clinician-researchers with an interest in head and neck cancer prevention and survivorship; and the Kentucky Cancer Registry team that can provide real-time head and neck cancer information and a virtual tissue repository that can retrieve cancer tissues from across the state for molecular analysis.
Founded in 1865 as a land-grant institution adjacent to downtown Lexington, the University of Kentucky is nestled in the scenic heart of the Bluegrass region of Kentucky. Recently ranked as one of the best places to live in the US, Lexington is an ideal location to experience the work-life balance that the University strives to provide to its employees.
Applications should include a curriculum vita, as well as a cover letter with description of cancer research interests, a brief summary of accomplishments, and a discussion of future research plans. Applicants should provide names and addresses of at least three professional references, who will be contacted for invited applicants. Please apply at https://ukjobs.uky.edu/postings/458840
To apply for this job please visit ukjobs.uky.edu.
Kirupa Suthakar, PhD - Dr Kirupa Suthakar is a postdoctoral fellow at NIH/NIDCD, having formerly trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School and doctoral student at Garvan Institute of Medical Research/UNSW Australia. Kirupa's interest in the mind and particular fascination by how we are able to perceive the world around us led her to pursue a research career in auditory neuroscience. To date, Kirupa's research has broadly focused on neurons within the auditory efferent circuit, which allow the brain to modulate incoming sound signals at the ear. Kirupa is active member of the spARO community, serving as the Chair Elect for 2021.
Charles C. Della Santina, PhD MD is a Professor of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he directs the Johns Hopkins Cochlear Implant Center and the Johns Hopkins Vestibular NeuroEngineering Laboratory.
Andrew Griffith received his MD and PhD in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University in 1992. He completed his general surgery internship and a residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Michigan in 1998. He also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Department of Human Genetics as part of his training at the University of Michigan. In 1998, he joined the Division of Intramural Research (DIR) in the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). He served as a senior investigator, the chief of the Molecular Biology and Genetics Section, the chief of the Otolaryngology Branch, and the director of the DIR, as well as the deputy director for Intramural Clinical Research across the NIH Intramural Research Program. His research program identifies and characterizes molecular and cellular mechanisms of normal and disordered hearing and balance in humans and mouse models. Two primary interests of his program have been hearing loss associated with enlargement of the vestibular aqueduct, and the function of TMC genes and proteins. The latter work lead to the discovery that the deafness gene product TMC1 is a component of the hair cell sensory transduction channel. Since July of 2020, he has served as the Senior Associate Dean of Research and a Professor of Otolaryngology and Physiology in the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
Gwenaëlle S. G. Géléoc obtained a PhD in Sensory Neurobiology from the University of Sciences in Montpellier (France) in 1996. She performed part of her PhD training at the University of Sussex, UK where she characterized sensory transduction in vestibular hair cells and a performed a comparative study between vestibular and cochlear hair cells. Gwenaelle continued her training as an electrophysiologist at University College London studying outer hair cell motility and at Harvard Medical School studying modulation of mechanotransduction in vestibular hair cells. As an independent investigator at the University of Virginia, she expanded this work and characterized the developmental acquisition of sensory transduction in mouse vestibular hair cells, the developmental acquisition of voltage-sensitive conductances in vestibular hair cells and the tonotopic gradient in the acquisition of sensory transduction in the mouse cochlea. This work along with quantitative spatio-temporal studies performed on several hair cell mechanotransduction candidates lead her to TMC1 and 2 and long-term collaborations with Andrew Griffith and Jeff Holt. Dr. Géléoc is currently Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology, at Boston Children’s Hospital where she continues to study molecular players involved in the development and function of hair cells of the inner ear and develops new therapies for the treatment of deafness and balance, with a particular focus on Usher syndrome.
Jeff Holt earned a doctorate from the Department of Physiology at the University of Rochester in 1995 for his studies of inward rectifier potassium channels in saccular hair cells. He went on to a post-doctoral position in the Neurobiology Department at Harvard Medical School and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, where he characterized sensory transduction and adaptation in hair cells and developed a viral vector system to transfect cultured hair cells. Dr. Holt’s first faculty position was in the Neuroscience Department at the University of Virginia. In 2011 the lab moved to Boston Children’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School. Dr. Holt is currently a Professor in the Departments of Otolaryngology and Neurology in the F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center. Dr. Holt and his team have been studying sensory transduction in auditory and vestibular hair cells over the past 20 years, with particular focus on TMC1 and TMC2 over the past 12 years. This work lead to the discovery that TMC1 forms the hair cell transduction channel. His work also focuses on development gene therapy strategies for genetic hearing loss.
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