Faculty Position: Cancer In Vivo Gene Editing Investigators

This position may be located in Jacksonville, FL or Rochester, MN.

Position Description

The Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center (MCCCC) enterprise sites in Jacksonville, Florida and Rochester, Minnesota invite applications for open-rank faculty positions for innovative and accomplished Cancer In Vivo Gene Editing Investigators (Physicians and Scientists) to expand in vivo gene editing efforts in the Mayo Clinic In Vivo Human Gene Editing Program (Precision Genomics: Interventional Therapeutics: PG:IT) and the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Programs in Cell Therapy Discovery and Translational Science. These reflect Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center’s commitment to accelerating the next generation of engineered cell therapies and to advancing curative treatments for cancer and other diseases.

We seek exceptional investigators (scientists and physicians) with expertise in in vivo genome engineering and gene editing technologies (e.g., CRISPR/Cas systems, base editing, prime editing, epigenome editing, RNA editing, synthetic gene circuits, or related platforms) applied to human cells for ultimate therapeutic development and intervention. Successful candidates will have the opportunity to play a central role in advancing a rapidly growing, multidisciplinary cell therapy program focused on discovery science, translational innovation, and clinical impact.

A key component of this role will be close collaboration with established CAR-T and immune cell therapy scientists, leveraging advanced genetic editing strategies to enhance persistence, safety, resistance to exhaustion, efficacy, tumor microenvironment adaptation, and manufacturability. While the successful candidates will focus on applications in cancer, they will have the opportunity to work in oncology and non-oncology indications across the Mayo Clinic enterprise to develop novel gene-engineered approaches that expand the therapeutic reach of cellular therapies beyond cancer, including autoimmune, inflammatory, genetic, and other degenerative disorders.
 

Strategic Role and Leadership Expectations

The Cancer In Vivo Gene Editing Investigator will:
 

• Provide scientific expertise and have the opportunity for leadership roles in genome engineering strategies.
• Partner closely with CAR-T investigators and translational immunotherapy teams to develop next-generation engineered immune cell platforms.
• Develop innovative gene editing solutions to improve efficacy, durability, safety switches, multiplex editing strategies, and precision targeting in both malignant and non-malignant disease settings.
• Build scalable and clinically translatable genetic engineering pipelines that accelerate progression from discovery to early-phase clinical trials.
• Contribute to the strategic growth and national visibility of the Mayo Clinic PG:IT Program and Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Cell Therapy Programs.
• Mentor trainees, junior faculty, and research staff within a collaborative and inclusive academic environment.
• Participate in institutional initiatives aligned with Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cance Center’s vision to Cure, Connect, and Transform healthcare through transformative science.

The successful candidate will be a key driver in integrating advanced genome engineering technologies into existing and emerging cell therapy platforms, enabling novel approaches to immune cell engineering, stem cell modification, in vivo gene editing strategies, and precision genome correction programs.
 

Research Environment

Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center offer a highly collaborative and integrated academic medical center environment with expanding strengths in cell therapy, cancer immunotherapy, regenerative medicine, and translational science. Mayo Clinic and MCCCC have built a world-class research hub to transform cancer patient care through actionable target discovery and next-generation discovery and therapeutic platforms. These foundational platforms include Mayo Clinic Platform (www.mayoclinicplatform.org) which holds the fully digitized longitudinal patient records from 15M Mayo Clinic patients and 54M patients from across the nation and the globe with collaborating healthcare institutions, which facilitate research through development of longitudinal patient cohorts prior to and following disease diagnosis. Mayo Clinic has also developed very strong AI-driven discovery, translational, and clinical programs with exceptional “on premises” and cloud-based computational resources.

Faculty benefit from:

• Established CAR-T and immune cell therapy programs with active clinical translation
• State-of-the-art genome engineering and cell manufacturing infrastructure
• Access to institutional core facilities including genomics, single-cell sequencing, proteomics, bioinformatics, and advanced imaging
• Robust disease-focused centers supporting both oncology and non-oncology therapeutic innovation
• Dedicated institutional support for regulatory strategy, clinical trial development, and commercialization pathways
• Cross-campus collaboration opportunities with Mayo Clinic sites in Minnesota and Arizona.
   

The selected candidates will facilitate the development of forward-looking cell therapy strategy that integrates gene editing platforms with clinical translation infrastructure.
 

Why Choose Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center? 

With 440 members and >1500 aligned cancer physicians working in six Cancer Research Programs and 15 Disease Groups, 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. 
 

The MCCCC Misson: 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.

Why Choose Mayo?

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.

We offer:
 

• Competitive startup and sustained institutional support
• Investment in team science and program-building initiatives
• Access to a $1B+ annual research enterpriseInfrastructure 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
Qualified candidates must hold a doctoral degree (Ph.D., M.D., M.D./Ph.D., Sc.D., or equivalent) in genetics, molecular biology, immunology, biomedical engineering, or a related discipline.

Candidates should demonstrate:

• A strong record of high-impact, peer-reviewed publications in genome editing, immune engineering, or related fields.
• Sustained extramural funding appropriate to academic rank (NIH K award or equivalent for Assistant Professor; R01-level funding or equivalent for Associate Professor or higher).
• Experience collaborating across disciplines, particularly with immunotherapy or CAR-T research programs.
• Evidence of scientific leadership and the ability to build and participate in collaborative, multidisciplinary research programs. 
• A demonstrated commitment to mentorship, education, and fostering an inclusive academic culture.

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