Research Opportunities

Mission Statement

The goal of clinical and translational research in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania is to develop novel, more effective treatment regimens/paradigms for cancer based on cutting-edge scientific discoveries, leveraging particular Penn strengths. To that end, we conduct pilot, phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials. Promising new approaches are then presented to national cooperative groups to be validated in phase 3 trials.

Our research is focused on 5 themes:

• Personalized medicine
• Immunology, immunotherapy and radiation
• Tumor microenvironment, and its interaction with radiation and PDT
• Radiation Response Modifiers
• Novel Technologies (including Protons and FLASH research)

Faculty Leadership

• Costas Koumenis, Ph.D., Vice Chair of Research and Richard H. Chamberlain Professor
• John Plastaras, M.D., Ph.D., Vice Chair of Clinical Research and Professor
• Edgar Ben-Josef, M.D., Vice Chair of Translational Research and Eli Glatstein Professor

Undergraduate research 

• Summer Undergraduate Program for Educating Radiation Scientists (SUPERS)
  SUPERS@PENN is a ten week summer research program hosted by the Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Research. Students are paired with a lab in the Radiology, Physics or Biology fields. 
  *Open to rising college Juniors and Seniors within and outside UPenn
• Center for Undergraduate Research (CURF)
  CURF is a University-wide resource devoted to helping undergraduates find research mentors or funding for individual research projects. CURF maintains a Research Directory, a database of faculty offering opportunities for undergraduates to participate in their research projects including several in Radiation Oncology.
  *For UPenn students
• Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program (PURM)
  Each year Penn supports undergraduate involvement in faculty research through the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program (PURM), which provides students completing their first or second undergraduate year the opportunity to spend a summer conducting research with a Penn faculty member. 
  *For UPenn students
• Work Study positions
  Undergraduate research assistant positions are listed on the Student Employment Office webpage
  *For UPenn students

Graduate research

• Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS)
  Our faculty are accepting students in the following Doctoral program graduate groups at BGS, housed within the Perelman School of Medicine: Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, Cell & Molecular Biology, and Pharmacology

Postdoctoral research

• Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs
  Open postdoc positions will be posted here