Description
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS (USA) - The Department of Pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), both principal teaching affiliates of Harvard Medical School and founding members of Mass General Brigham (MGB), is seeking a Medical Director/Scientific Director/Associate Director for the Immunogenetics and Transplant Diagnostics (ITD) Service. In partnership with the Division Director, this individual will serve as a key clinical leader and primary liaison to the transplant programs supported by the ITD laboratories throughout New England.
The ITD service currently operates across two laboratory sites, one at each academic medical center. Together, the BWH Tissue Typing and MGH Histocompatibility laboratories provide comprehensive support for solid organ (kidney, heart, lung, liver, pancreas), as well as hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation and specialized non-transplant diagnostic testing. ITD performs ~60,000 HLA/histocompatibility-related tests per year. Collectively, the ITD laboratories support the combined Mass General Brigham transplant programs which performed more than 750 organ transplants in 2025 alone. In addition, the MGB ITD Service serves is the Organ Procurement Organization histocompatibility laboratory for OPTN Region 1 and supports nine additional organ and HPCT transplant hospitals across New England.
This is an exceptionally exciting and transformative time to join the Mass General Brigham Pathology ITD leadership team. Mass General Brigham is undertaking full operational and governance integration of its long-standing histocompatibility laboratories. The successful candidate will help design and build the next generation of fully integrated immunogenetics and transplant diagnostics laboratory in a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility. This is a unique opportunity to help shape this once-in-a-lifetime initiative including laboratory strategy, clinical operations, workforce development and histocompatibility testing service delivery across New England. Few positions offer the chance to influence the creation of a unified histocompatibility and immunogenetics diagnostics program at this scale, bringing together the strengths of two world-renowned academic medical centers to establish the premier laboratory serving Mass General Brigham and the broader New England transplant community for decades to come.
Requirements
The ideal applicant should have an M.D. or M.D./Ph.D., be board-certified in Clinical Pathology by the American Board of Pathology or hold a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree and be board-certified by a Department of Health and Human Services-approved board. Applicants should also meet the OPTN and ASHI qualifications for histocompatibility lab directors. Candidates who have not achieved board-certification and/or histocompatibility laboratory director credentials but demonstrate strong commitment to the field and are eligible to begin (or continue) training through the ACHI Director Training, Review and Credentialing (DTRC) pathway are encouraged to apply.
For candidates seeking appointment at the Medical Director level, at least 3-5 years’ experience in broad and diverse histocompatibility laboratory practice is required. Successful experience supporting multi-hospital transplant systems, enterprise-wide laboratory integration efforts, organ procurement organizations, or complex reginal transplant networks is particularly valued as is experience participating in multi-disciplinary teams as the clinical histocompatibility expert (e.g. paired exchange programs such as National Kidney Registry and HPCT donor selection). For candidates seeking appointment at the Scientific Director level, 3-5 years’ experience and expertise in selecting/validating/implementing advanced histocompatibility testing technologies (including next-generation sequencing, chimerism/engraftment, flow cytometric and CDC crossmatch as well ABO molecular typing) in a high-volume, large OPO histocompatibility laboratory setting is highly valued.
In addition to serving as the primary CLIA clinical consultant and HLA expert for multidisciplinary transplant team meetings (medical director) or CLIA technical supervisor (scientific director), the successful applicant will play an active role in pre and post-transplant testing review/interpretation/sign-out, clinical consultation, and on-call virtual crossmatches/immunologic assessments. Depending on experience, interest and qualifications, the individual will also contribute to laboratory strategic planning, quality assurance/quality improvement initiatives, assay implementation, educational activities, and the training of residents and fellows.
The MGB Department of Pathology is staffed by more than 240 faculty, 115 residents and clinical fellows, and 2000 employees in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology in a predominantly subspecialty-oriented model. The department provides opportunities for clinical, translational, and basic research. Collaborations in many areas of science and access to innovative educational technologies are available in the department and through interactions with investigators at multiple Harvard-affiliated institutions.
The applicant should be committed to excellence in patient care, scholarship, and teaching. Salary and academic rank (Instructor, Assistant, or Associate Professor) will be commensurate with training, experience and accomplishments. The salary range for full-time employment for this position is $200,000 to $315,000 per year, not inclusive of incentive compensation or benefits.
Please send the following materials to the email address below:
(1) Curriculum Vitae
(2) Cover letter detailing applicant’s experience and interest
(3) Names and contact information of three potential referees
J Ryan Peña MD, PhD, MS, F(ACHI)
Director, Immunogenetics and Transplant Diagnostics Lab Service
Histocompatibility (HLA) Laboratory, GRJ-202
Massachusetts General Hospital
55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114
Email: rpena@mgh.harvard.edu
We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, or any other characteristic protected by law.
