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As a translational research group, we are excited to collaborate with energetic scientists and clinician-scientists who share our passion for our mission.  A limited number of research fellowship positions are offered in the lab throughout the year. Minimum length of the fellowship program is 12 months; shorter periods of time might be considered under special circumstances.  Please contact us if you are interested in joining our group!

The Pepper Lab, part of the Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery at Stanford University, has an available position for a Research Scientist in the field of nerve injury, repair, and regeneration. The Pepper Lab is part of the Stanford Facial Nerve Center.  To identify new ways to treat nerve injury and paralysis, we use rodent models of nerve injury to identify therapeutic targets, small molecules and biomaterials to treat nerve injury, and then assess the impact of these treatments on nerve function.  Our work includes microsurgical models of nerve injury and repair, molecular analyses of injured nerve tissue, and functional recovery assays with machine learning models.  We collaborate with Biomedical Engineering and Biomaterials teams to design new surgical devices that can be used to repair injured nerve tissue.  A separate area of focus is on computer vision to assess clinical aspects of facial palsy.  Our work is highly interdisciplinary, translational, and team oriented.  

The lab has an open position for a Research Scientist.  Applicants must hold a PhD or MD/PhD in a related field.  MD’s who wish to apply must have a minimum of 3 years of full-time research experience in a basic science lab.   We will consider related applications for postdoctoral fellows, life science research professionals, research scientists, and instructors.  

Significant lab experience is required, including animal handling, confocal microscopy, qPCR, cell culture, and related basic molecular biology skills.  The ideal candidate would also have prior experience with grant writing.  The position will require 60% effort on the bench and 40% effort writing grants and manuscripts. 

Applicants should contact Marlena Sandoval at marlenas@stanford.edu with a CV, cover letter, and professional references.