Research Scientist - Computational Pathology and AI in Cancer Research

Research Scientist

Job Summary

The Pan Lab at the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI), University of
Utah is seeking a highly motivated computational researcher to join our interdisciplinary research team. Our lab develops artificial intelligence (AI) and computational approaches to study cancer using digital pathology and multi-omics data, with an emphasis on translating quantitative tissue phenotypes into biologically and clinically meaningful insights.

We are particularly interested in candidates with strong computational skills in computer vision, deep learning, image processing, and scientific programming. The successful candidate will work primarily on computational pathology and multimodal cancer research, including analysis of whole-slide histopathology images and integration of imaging-derived features with spatial, molecular and clinical data.

The Pan Lab is based at Huntsman Cancer Institute and the
Department of Oncological Sciences at the University of Utah. Our research lies at the intersection of artificial intelligence, computational pathology, spatial biology, and precision oncology.

The successful candidate will have opportunities to work with large-scale digital pathology and molecular datasets, develop new computational methodology, collaborate across computational, biological, pathological, and clinical disciplines, and contribute to high-impact translational cancer research.

Huntsman Cancer Institute is committed to cancer prevention, care, and survivorship for all communities within the area we serve
– which includes Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming – with impact worldwide.

In your cover letter or during your interview process, we invite you to share how your professional experiences have prepared you to serve as a member of our team as we work to reduce the cancer burden experienced by all people and communities. This may include description of your prior experiences related to research, prevention, clinical care, community engagement/outreach, training, administration, or other areas relevant to Huntsman Cancer
Institute's mission and this position.

Learn more about the great benefits of working for
University of Utah: benefits.utah.edu

The department may choose to hire at any of the below job levels and associated pay rates based on their business need and budget.

Responsibilities

Research Areas and Responsibilities

The successful candidate will contribute to projects involving:

• Development and application of computer vision and deep

learning methods for pathology images, including tissue and cellular segmentation, classification, and quantitative image analysis.

• Development and maintenance of scalable and reproducible

computational pipelines for large pathology and multi-omics datasets.

• Characterization of tumor morphology, tissue architecture,

immune and stromal microenvironments, and spatial heterogeneity.

• Integration of digital pathology with spatial transcriptomics,

spatial proteomics, and other molecular data.

• Development of multimodal approaches for biomarker discovery,

patient stratification, and outcome prediction.

• Analysis of large datasets using Linux-based high-performance

and GPU computing environments.

• Collaboration with bioinformatician, pathologists, cancer

biologists, and clinical investigators to design analyses and interpret results.

• Preparation of scientific manuscripts and presentation of

research findings at internal meetings and national/international conferences.

How to Apply Interested applicants should submit:

• A CV with links to GitHub repositories or Hugging Face if

available.

• A cover letter describing research experience, computational

expertise, and research interests (1-page);

• Contact information for three references.

Applicants are encouraged to highlight their experience with
Python, Linux, computer vision/image processing, computational pathology, and/or multi-omics analysis.

Minimum Qualifications

EQUIVALENCY STATEMENT: 1 year of higher education can be substituted for 1 year of directly related work experience
(Example: bachelor's degree = 4 years of directly related work experience).

Department may hire employee at one of the following job levels:

Research Scientist, I: Requires a PhD in a scientific discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and directly related experience.

Preferences

Preferred candidates have:

• A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or substantial relevant

research experience, in Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering,
Electrical/Computer Engineering, Bioinformatics, Computational
Biology, Data Science, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, or a related quantitative discipline.

• Strong programming skills in Python.
• Experience working in a Linux/Unix environment, including

command-line workflows.

• Experience in image processing, computer vision, deep learning,

and/or large language models.

• Familiarity with modern deep-learning frameworks such as

PyTorch or TensorFlow.

• Ability to independently develop, debug, and maintain

scientific analysis pipelines.

• Strong quantitative problem-solving skills and the ability to

learn new computational methods independently.

• Effective communication skills and the ability to work

collaboratively in an interdisciplinary research environment.

Experience in one or more of the following areas is desirable:

• Computational pathology.
• Deep learning for image segmentation, classification, object

detection, representation learning, or related computer-vision tasks.

• Spatial transcriptomics or spatial proteomics, including

platforms such as 10x Visium or Xenium.

• Multimodal machine learning and image-omics integration.
• High-performance/GPU computing, workload schedulers,

containers, and reproducible computational environments.

• Scientific productivity demonstrated through peer-reviewed

publications, conference presentations, software, or other research outputs.

Candidates are not expected to have experience in all of these areas. We particularly value strong computational fundamentals, rigorous problem-solving skills, scientific curiosity, and the ability to independently learn new methods.

Special Instructions

Requisition Number: PRN46548B

Full Time or Part Time? Full Time

Work Schedule Summary:

Department: 02322 - HCI Onc Sci Research Support

Location: Campus

Pay Rate Range: $36,196 to $83,036

Close Date: 12/31/2026

Open Until Filled:

To apply, visit https://utah.peopleadmin.com/postings/211272

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