Assistant Professor - Department of Biostatistics

Benefits: All full-time university staff are eligible for VCU’s robust benefits package that includes comprehensive health benefits, paid annual and holiday leave granted up front, generous tuition benefits, retirement planning and savings options, tax-deferred annuity and cash match programs, employee discounts, well-being resources, abundant opportunities for career development and advancement, and more.

Unit: School of Public Health MBU

Department: Biostatistics

This position will reside in the Department of Biostatistics, with all research-related efforts committed to and funded by the Child Health Research Institute, which is managed by the Department of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital of Richmond.

The Department of Biostatistics at Virginia Commonwealth University invites applications for a full-time, 12-month, term faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor. We seek candidates with broad research expertise in biostatistics and health data science. Particular emphasis will be given to candidates with experience in one or more of the following areas: power analysis, secondary data analysis, causal inference, electronic health records, national survey data, dynamic treatment regime and precision medicine, functional data, advanced Bayesian methods, and ‘big data’ analytics. Funding for this position is committed for 4 years via the CHRI, with renewal contingent on performance and the availability of funds. During this period, the successful candidate will be expected to develop a strong, extramurally funded research program, with effort allocated to sponsored projects. Work assignments will be prioritized toward collaborations with investigators whose research advances CHRI priorities and leads to sustainable extramural funding.

The Child Health Research Institute (CHRI) is a joint initiative of the Children's Hospital of Richmond and the Department of Pediatrics. It was launched in February 2020 with a generous $2.17 million dollar grant from the Children's Hospital Foundation, with the goal of supporting and expanding pediatric research across the university. Since launching, it has internally competed and distributed over $1 million in grant support for early- stage seed grants, mentored fellows’ projects, and novel cross-disciplinary collaborations that relate to children’s health. This transformative funding will continue in Fall 2025 with the launch of CHRI 2.0, which will sustain and grow successful activities such as a visiting investigator program, an early research career development club, and provide statistical and pre- and post-award grant management as well as clinical regulatory and startup support for its awardees. Members of the Department of Pediatrics/Child Health Research Institute are involved in over 50 research projects ranging from bench to translational and from epidemiological to service delivery. The Department of Pediatrics closed FY25 with over $11.3 million in extramural grants and contracts awarded, and $10.3 million in expenditures. Total pediatric-related research awards and research faculty support efforts across the CHoR enterprise in FY25 totaled $34.7 million.

Located in the heart of Richmond, Virginia, VCU is a premier urban, public research university, committed to student success and community service. One of only a few universities to receive both a "Very High Research Activity (R1 status)" and a "Community Engaged" designation from the Carnegie Foundation, VCU also boasts nine programs in the U.S. News and World Report's top 10, as well as the region's top-rated medical center. Richmond's lively and welcoming city provides the ideal backdrop for VCU's academic work. Rich in culture and history, the city becomes a living laboratory where our faculty, staff, and students can tackle problems directly affecting our local communities and see the impact of their work first-hand. VCU ended FY24 with an institutional record of $506 million in sponsored awards with the majority coming from federal sources. This is an 86% increase over the past six years and a 9% increase over 2023. The VCU Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Health Sciences, and Allied Health Professionals are located on the University’s Medical College of Virginia (MCV) Campus and accounted for 50% of VCU’s total research awards, with the School of Medicine bringing in over $200 million alone.

Duties & Responsibilities:

This is a highly collaborative position, ideal for a biostatistician who thrives in interdisciplinary environments. The incoming faculty member will demonstrate the ability to communicate statistical concepts effectively to non- statistical audiences, collaborate on basic, translational, quality improvement and clinical projects, and serve as “statistical clinician” – focused on applied, impactful research rather than purely theoretical work.

Teaching: The faculty member’s teaching responsibilities will consist of ad hoc presentations to the CHRI research community, such as the faculty development seminars, CHRI Research Retreats, and to residents, postdocs, and junior faculty groups as needed and requested.

Research: The faculty member is expected to generate collaborative publications with the CHRI researchers, both leading to and resulting from intra- and extramural funding.

Service: The faculty member will commit 5% of their time to serve on Biostatistics department, School, and/or University committees as necessary, as well as in a professional capacity in their discipline of interest (e.g., reviewer, conference organizer, etc.)

Qualifications:

• Awarded a Ph.D. or equivalent terminal degree in Biostatistics, Statistics, Bioinformatics, Computer science, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated an established track record in research areas as were mentioned above via scholarly activities, such as peer-reviewed publications,presentations (invited/contributed), and grant applications (some evidence needed).
• Ability to work independently. 
• Proficiency in statistical software, such as R, SAS, STATA, Python or others with an ability to conduct complex statistical analysis on collaborative projects is required.
• Experience working in collaborative/multidisciplinary research endeavors, meeting deadlines, or at least exhibit strong potential for doing so, and excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work in and foster an environment of respect, professionalism and civility with a population of faculty, staff, and students from all backgrounds and experiences, or a commitment to do so as a faculty member at VCU.

How to Apply:

Materials to be uploaded include: (a) Cover letter/Letter of intent, (b) Research Statement (3-5 pages), (c) Curriculum Vitae, and (d) Contact information for three professional references. Three references will be eventually required for the finalist candidates. Interested candidates may direct their questions to search committee chair Dr. Le Kang (lkang@vcu.edu). For consideration in the first round, applications are due on or before 11/30/2025, although applications will be accepted until successful candidates have been identified. Reviews of applications will begin 12/01/2025.

You may upload ONE pdf file combining your CV, teaching statement, research statement etc. or provide research statement at using the attachment link at the end of the application prior to final submission

Salary Range:Commensurate

FLSA Exemption Status: Exempt

Restricted Position: No

ORP Eligible: Yes

Flexible Work Arrangement: Hybrid

Rank: Assistant Professor

Tenure: Ineligible

Months: 12 months

Contact Information:
Contact Name: Le Kang
Contact Email: LKANG@VCU.EDU