Assoc or Full Professor/Assoc or SrScientist in Biomedical Informatics
Psychology
Position Overview
The University of Kansas, Department of Psychology and Life Span Institute is seeking applicants for a full-time, tenure track, academic year (9-month) faculty position at the Associate or Full Professor/ Associate or Senior Scientist level to begin 8/18/23. This split position is focused on individuals with expertise in biomedical informatics and their application to the study of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs).
The position is being supported by a recently awarded $3M Research Rising initiative from the KU Office of Research that is focused on advancing IDD research at KU. The goal of this investment is to expand KU’s international prominence in IDD research through new infrastructure investments and faculty hires in genomics and data science approaches, expanding the already strong portfolio of basic, clinical, and applied IDD research within the Life Span Institute, Department of Psychology, KU, and the KU Medical Center (KUMC). More information on this project can be found at the following link: https://mediahub.ku.edu/media/t/1_72ejpwck. Please see the following link for a broader description of the Research Rising program at KU: https://research.ku.edu/research-rising.
KU is a Carnegie doctoral/research-extensive university with a $1.4 billion endowment and a faculty of 2,600. Current enrollment is 28,500 (19,000 undergraduate), with students drawn from 110 nations and all 50 states; 20.6% of KU students are members of marginalized groups. The 1,000-acre main campus is in Lawrence, Kansas and at the center of a vibrant and culturally-rich community – a quintessential college town. Visitors, students and new employees from outside the area enjoy discovering the many wonders of Lawrence, including a thriving downtown, diverse local and regional events, area lakes, vibrant arts and music scenes, and an indelible history. Home to nearly 95,000 people, Lawrence is located 45 minutes west of Kansas City and 30 minutes east of Topeka, the state capital. Along with the music, arts, culture and sports experiences offered at KU and in Lawrence, the short drive to Kansas City provides quick access to historic jazz clubs, museums, world-class music and theatre venues, and professional sports teams.
This position and associated hires in IDD research are aligned with the University of Kansas’ strategic plan: https://jayhawksrising.ku.edu/ The Jayhawks Rising Strategic Plan was developed around three Institutional Priorities: creating a clear and ambitious direction to fulfill our mission to educate leaders, build healthy communities, and make discoveries that change the world.
In a continuing effort to enrich its academic environment and provide equal educational and employment opportunities, the university actively encourages applications from members of underrepresented groups in higher education. We are seeking a committed scholar to support the university in addressing this mission, with a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB).
The successful candidate must be eligible to work in the U.S, by the time of appointment.
Job Description
This position focuses on recruiting an established scholar with a focused, innovative research program examining biomedical informatics strategies to understand IDDs. Biomedical informatic approaches are increasingly necessary to understand complex etiological processes and their associations with clinical outcomes in IDDs. One issue that persistently has confounded IDD researchers is the extreme genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity among individuals that share a common diagnosis. The ability to leverage large-scale national and international initiatives to combine biospecimen data repositories linked with electronic health record (EHR) and other data sources will be essential for making significant progress in understanding genetic and phenotypic variability in IDDs, and for predicting individual outcomes. Expertise in cutting edge biomedical informatics strategies for integrating and analyzing genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and phenotypic data will be vital to allowing KU to collaborate within larger national/international initiatives and to lead our own large-scale initiatives that leverage ongoing efforts by current IDD investigators at KU. This position will be expected to lead and grow these approaches at KU and KUMC and collaborate with a range of scholars across disciplines and research foci. Notably, investigators also will have access to resources at KUMC including the Division of Medical Informatics (MI; https://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/academics/departments/internal-medi…) which provides capabilities and expertise in software engineering, data warehousing, data management, data integration, and administration of clinical trial and electronic data capture systems. MI works closely with the University of Kansas Health System in making clinical, administrative, research, and payer data available for research purposes.
Job Duties:
Teaching/advising, research, and service expectations
Psychology (0.50/0.75 FTE). The appointment in PSYC would be 50% FTE for the first five years, and 75% thereafter. Evaluation prior to/following five years would be based on a weighting of 20%/30% teaching/advising, 20%/30% research, and 10%/15% service.
Teaching/Advising (20%/30%). The current classroom teaching assignment for full-time faculty members is two courses per semester. With a .50 FTE appointment, the teaching load for this position will be one course/semester; with a .75 appointment, the teaching load would be three courses/year.
Research (20%/30%). All faculty members are expected to engage in a program of research and to share their scholarship with colleagues and/or the public at large through publication or other creative activities. The person in this position will be expected to lead a productive, funded program of research on biomedical informatics and their application to the study of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs)
Service (10%/15%). All faculty members are expected to fulfill their share of service duties needed to facilitate the efficient operation of the Department. Faculty may provide service at the College and University levels and in regional, national, and international activities of the discipline. Activities that foster effective relationships with alumni and other professionals and associations as well as community groups also constitute service.
Research and service expectations
The Life Span Institute (0.50/0.25 FTE): Over the first five years/subsequent years, the hired Associate/Senior Scientist serving within the Life Span Institute (LSI) is expected to engage in the following activities:
Research (47.5%/22.5%). Associate and Senior Scientists are expected to establish, develop, and sustain an independent and nationally/internationally visible program of research. This includes responsibility for the management and conduct of research as well as the dissemination of the products of that research in appropriate venues (e.g., high-impact, peer-reviewed journals) as well as at meetings or conferences at appropriate levels (e.g., international, national). Scientists are also expected to be consistently and regularly engaged in the pursuit of external funding to sustain their research program. This includes the assumption of leadership roles in the preparation and submission of proposals to funding sources outside of the institution, and may involve the initiation of, or participation in, collaborative proposals.
Service (2.5%): Associate and Senior Scientists are expected to participate in service activities at the international, national, regional and state levels appropriate to their professional discipline. These may include participation in peer review for journal editorial boards, federal granting agencies (NIH, NSF, USDE, etc.), and foundation funding agencies (e.g., Autism Speaks), serving as officer in professional societies and associations, and other activities such as invited presentations to governmental, professional, and community organizations. The Associate or Senior Scientist is also expected to provide limited service to the LSI as necessary and appropriate (e.g., promotion committee, representing the LSI within the institution).
Faculty members are expected to carry out their responsibilities in accordance with the Faculty Code of Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct, currently viewable at: http://policy.ku.edu/FacultyCodeKULawrence/faculty-code-of-rights
Summer Salary
Summer salary acquired through grants or through summer teaching would be in addition to academic year salary. Summer salary is based on your academic salary rate and varies from year to year.
Required Qualifications
Doctoral degree in informatics or related field from an accredited institution
Established record of productive scholarship as demonstrated by multiple peer-review publications documenting results from studies of IDDs
Established record of submitted or funded external award related to IDDs
Established record of teaching, advising, and/or mentoring of undergraduate, graduate and/or postdoctoral trainees
Contact Information to Applicants
For Additional Information, Please Contact:
Committee Co-Chairs: Matt Mosconi (mosconi@ku.edu) and Karrie Shogren (shogren@ku.edu)
Additional Candidate Instruction
To apply online go to https://employment.ku.edu/academic/xxxxxBR. A complete application includes an online application, with the following attached:
Cover letter that identifies professional interests generally and specific interests and background relevant to this position
Curriculum vita
Research statement
Teaching philosophy statement
A list of three professional/academic references with contact information
In addition to the materials above, learning about each applicant’s contribution and engagement in areas of diversity is an important part of KU’s mission. As a result, applicants will be presented the following question at the time of application. The response must be within 4,000 characters or less.
Describe your experiences working with people from diverse backgrounds and explain how those experiences reflect your commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
Screening of applications begins December 1, 2022 and will continue until the position is filled. Only complete applications will be considered. Other documentation may be requested from candidate finalists. Finalists will be required to submit to a background investigation. The preferred position starting date is August 18, 2023.
