Department Head of Microbiology, Genetics, Immunology (MGI)

Department Head of Microbiology, Genetics, Immunology (MGI)

Company: LSU Health New Orleans

Job Location: New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Category: Biology

Type: Full-Time

Under broad authority delegated by the Dean of the School of Medicine, the Department Head of Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology (MGI) is responsible for the department's educational, research, and service programs. The Department Head reports to the Dean. The Department of Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology (MGI) is a newly formed Basic Science department that combines faculty originally appointed to Genetics and to Microbiology, Immunology, and Parasitology. The leader of this new Basic Science Department is expected to demonstrate a strong commitment to research, collaboration, mentoring, and education.

Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in New Orleans seeks an accomplished academic leader to serve as Department Head of a newly formed Department of Microbiology, Genetics and Immunology. The Department Head will articulate and advance a unifying departmental vision in alignment with the School of Medicine strategic plan, with focus on the interplay of human and molecular genetics, microbial communities, infectious agents, and inflammatory mechanisms in shaping disease susceptibility, pathogenesis, progression, and therapeutic responsiveness across a broad spectrum of human disorders.

The Department Head will develop a vision leveraging and integrating currently funded departmental research strengths in bioinformatics and computational genomics; biological motors in disease and infection; drug and vaccine development; host-microbiome interactions; immune programing and reprogramming across human disorders; population, genomic, epigenomic and molecular bases of human disease; precision medicine; sexually transmitted infections and reproductive health; structural biology modeling; therapeutic strategies for chronic disease; and virus-associated cancers. The Department Head will provide leadership for existing funded educational pathway programs serving our community through outreach and education on the evolving role of microbiology, genetics, and immunology of human health.

The successful candidate will have a strong record of extramural funding, and will also have the outstanding leadership skills necessary to recruit and mentor outstanding faculty; enhance extramural funding; support educational excellence in graduate, medical, and professional training; foster interdisciplinary collaboration; and strengthen partnerships with other Basic Science Departments, Clinical Departments, and with the Centers of Excellence in Cancer, Neuroscience, Cardiovascular Research, and Alcohol and Drug Abuse in the School of Medicine. The Department Head will be expected to promote a culture that values innovation, collaboration, rigor, and fairness, while positioning the Department to address major biomedical challenges through team science.

The candidate must hold an advanced professional degree (PhD, MD, MD/PhD or equivalent) and appropriate academic credentials for a tenured faculty appointment as a Professor at LSUHSC.

• Distinguished record of scholarship commensurate with appointment as a department Head and Professor in the School of Medicine.
• Proven national/international reputation and track record of success as a Principal Investigator in ongoing and prior research.
• Exceptional leadership skills to develop and articulate a compelling vision for the Department, fostering the growth of innovative research programs that align directly with the broader research mission of the School of Medicine and the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans.
• Demonstrated commitment to excellence in academics and teaching, specifically in medical, graduate, and post-graduate education, as well as the mentoring of trainees and junior faculty.
• Demonstrated financial acumen through successful management of multi-million-dollar budgets and consistent acquisition as a Principal Investigator of extramural grant funding.

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