Postdoctoral Associate - Biophotonics

Summary

The Department of Surgery is seeking a Postdoctoral Associate to develop and apply advanced laser-based spectroscopy, imaging, and novel-materials sensing platforms for translational cardiovascular and oncologic research. The Postdoctoral Associate will design, build, and apply optical technologies that includes surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), photoacoustic imaging, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and laser-tissue interaction techniques relevant to intravascular lithotripsy - within an interdisciplinary team spanning materials science, biomedical engineering, and clinical surgery. This role combines hands-on custom instrument development with applied biosensing and device research, supporting projects that range from cancer biomarker detection to next-generation interventional devices for vascular disease. The position offers substantial opportunity for peer-reviewed publication and translational/IP development within a highly collaborative, engineering-driven surgical research program. Postdoctoral Associatewith transferable laser-instrumentation and novel-materials backgrounds who are new to these specific applications are encouraged to apply.

Baylor College of Medicine typically follows similar to the NIH stipulated stipend guidelines for Postdoctoral Associates.

Job Duties

• Plans, directs, and conducts specialized and advanced research experiments.
• Evaluates and analyzes data.
• Establishes new research protocols and procedures.
• Summarizes research findings and publish results in research journals.
• Conducts and is responsible for laboratory operations.
• Supervises research staff.
• Designs and conducts experiments in laser-tissue interaction, photoacoustic imaging, and SERS/novel-material-based molecular sensing on a weekly cadence tied to active CPRIT and NIH project milestones.
• Fabricates and characterizes novel nanomaterial-based sensing substrates (2D materials, plasmonic nanoparticles, hybrid nanostructures) and evaluates their performance for signal enhancement in biological/tissue environments.
• Builds and optimizes custom optical instrumentation — Raman/SERS systems, OCT, photoacoustic imaging setups, and fiber-based laser delivery systems that includes systems relevant to intravascular lithotripsy-style pressure-wave or photothermal tissue interaction.
• Analyzes spectroscopic and imaging datasets using statistical and machine-learning methods to establish diagnostic or structure-function relationships.
• Establishes new experimental protocols for integrating novel materials into interventional and diagnostic device prototypes.
• Summarizes findings and drafts manuscripts for peer-reviewed publication; contributes to CPRIT/NIH grant renewal and progress-report materials.
• Handles day-to-day laboratory operations: equipment maintenance and calibration, laser safety compliance, materials/inventory management.
• Mentors and guides rotating graduate research trainees on specific sub-projects under the PI's direction.
• Supports the CPRIT-funded nano-biophotonics center's SERS/novel-material biosensor work for cancer diagnostics and supports the NIH-funded cardiovascular disease programs
• Learns, develops, and integrates photoacoustic and OCT imaging for catheter- and fiber-based interventional devices.
• Develops materials, micro-optics fabricated.
• Collaborates with Department of Surgery clinical faculty and Texas Medical Center partners (e.g., MD Anderson, external materials-science collaborators) to translate bench research toward pre-clinical and clinical application.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• MD or Ph.D. in Basic Science, Health Science, or a related field.
• No experience required.

Preferred Qualifications

• At-least 3 years of doctoral and postdoctoral experience is desired.
• Demonstrates hands-on experience designing and building custom laser/optical spectroscopy or imaging instrumentation (e.g., Raman/SERS, transient absorption, nonlinear optics, OCT).
• Experience synthesizing/fabricating and characterizing novel nanomaterials (2D materials, plasmonic nanoparticles, hybrid nanostructures) for sensing or therapeutic applications.
• Experience applying machine learning or statistical methods to spectroscopic/imaging data for classification, biomarker discovery, or diagnostic modeling.
• Experience handling biological tissue, liquid biopsy, or pre-clinical animal-model samples.
• Experience with laser-tissue interaction for sensing and therapeutic applications, photoacoustic imaging, and/or intravascular laser devices.
• Strong record of first-author, peer-reviewed publications.
• Experience in interdisciplinary, translationally focused research settings (clinical collaborators, IP/tech-transfer exposure) is a plus.