Discovery Postdoctoral Fellow, Oncology Translational Research

About the role

The Discovery Postdoctoral Fellow will join the Oncology Translational Research team in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and work on an innovative research project focused on cell surface proteins and their roles in oncology. The fellow will work alongside leading scientists in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment.

Research Opportunity

This three-year postdoctoral fellowship, co-mentored by scientists from Oncology Translational Research and Discovery Sciences, aims to build a broadly enabling surface proteomics platform and uncover disease-relevant cancer proteoforms that may reveal novel therapeutic targets and translational biomarkers. The fellow will:

• Work with expert translational, proteomics, and microscopy teams using state-of-the-art instrumentation and technologies.
• Develop and validate novel cell surface proteoform enrichment and mass spectrometry characterization methods in vitro.
• Apply validated approaches to identify and characterize surface protein and proteoform composition across cancer models.
• Investigate how proteoform composition differs across biomarker-defined cancer subtypes and evolves during treatment response and resistance.
• Optimize methods for tissue analysis and extend findings from cell culture into preclinical and patient-derived samples.
• Contribute to the identification of novel therapeutic targets and translational biomarkers.

Key Responsibilities

The fellow will:

• Co-create a comprehensive research plan with scientific mentors, integrating emerging scientific literature and innovative methodologies.
• Execute experiments, interpret results, and drive scientific decision-making.
• Develop and validate novel in vitro methods for cell surface proteoform enrichment and mass spectrometry-based characterization.
• Apply scalable approaches to characterize surface protein and proteoform composition in models of therapeutic response and resistance.
• Optimize methods for tissue-based applications and translational studies.
• Communicate scientific findings to cross-functional project teams and key stakeholders.
• Present research at internal and external scientific meetings.
• Publish novel discoveries in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Why Join the Program?

The Novartis Biomedical Research Postdoctoral Fellowship Program is designed to develop the next generation of scientific leaders and power the future of medicine through rigorous research, immersive learning, and exposure to emerging technologies including artificial intelligence in biomedical research. Postdoctoral Research Fellows benefit from mentorship from accomplished scientific leaders and subject matter experts, access to advanced technologies, platforms, and research capabilities, collaboration across disciplines and organizational boundaries, participation in a global and diverse postdoctoral community, dedicated learning and development programming, personalized experiential learning opportunities through the Postdoc Practicum, opportunities to publish research, present at leading scientific conferences, and build an international scientific network, and exposure to emerging technologies and artificial intelligence applications that are shaping the future of biomedical research.

Essential Requirements

• PhD or equivalent doctoral degree in a relevant scientific discipline such as Oncology, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Chemical Biology, or a related field, completed prior to the fellowship start date.
• PhD conferred in 2026. This fellowship is intended for scientists immediately following completion of doctoral training.
• Demonstrated record of scientific achievement through publications, presentations, patents, or equivalent accomplishments.
• Strong commitment to learning, innovation, and professional development.
• Excellent critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Experience working with in vitro models and handling preclinical and/or clinical tissue samples.
• Hands-on experience with protein analysis and cellular characterization techniques, including Western blotting, ELISA, protein labeling, immunoprecipitation, flow cytometry, high-content imaging, and microscopy.
• Interest in exploring emerging technologies and translating new approaches into impactful research applications.
• Strong communication skills and demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively within matrixed scientific teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with mass spectrometry and proteomics data generation, analysis, and visualization.
• Experience using analytics and visualization tools such as Spotfire and R.
• Experience in oncology translational research.

How to Apply

Please submit your CV and cover letter by July 25th, 2026. In your cover letter, describe your research interests, career aspirations, and how this fellowship will support your long-term development.

Compensation & Benefits

The starting salary for this position is 87,000 USD per year. US-based eligible employees will receive a comprehensive benefits package that includes health, life and disability benefits, a 401(k) with company contribution and match, and a variety of other benefits. In addition, employees are eligible for a generous time off package including vacation, personal days, holidays and other leaves.

EEO Statement

The Novartis Group of Companies are Equal Opportunity Employers. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.