Clinical Investigator (F75880) | School of Medicine, Family Medicine

Mission or Goal of Unit

Founded in 1970, the Department of Family Medicine at VCU has a long and proud history of research and scholarship focused on the practice of family medicine and family medicine education. It was the birthplace of the North American Primary Care Research Group (https://www.napcrg.org/) and the academic home for its founder, Dr. Maurice Wood.

Our Family Medicine Research team has a multi-disciplinary approach to research, coming from such fields as family medicine, health services, biostatistics and epidemiology, cultural anthropology, social and behavioral science, and public health. The team’s research focuses on improving quality in primary care settings, with a special focus on helping patients improve health behaviors, harnessing information technology, and improving systems of care.

Our research faculty conduct innovative, multi-disciplinary research aimed at understanding the interface between behavior and physiology, and integrates social, psychological and biological approaches that provide insight on health and illness over the life course. The department hosts research programs in the dynamics of aging, cancer prevention and control, and emphasizing behavioral and mental health.

This department is also home to the Virginia Ambulatory Care Outcomes Research Network (ACORN), our well-respected practice-based research network composed of more than 90 practices throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Chief Purpose of this position

We seek an Open Rank, tenure-eligible faculty investigator with responsibility for the design, development, execution, and dissemination of research on primary care and social determinants of health through externally funded competitive research grants and contracts. Areas of particular interest health promotion and disease prevention, health disparities, chronic conditions, practice transformation, health information systems, comparative effectiveness research, and health communication. The faculty member should have interdisciplinary research interests that complement and expand existing faculty expertise.

Position Responsibilities

Research
The faculty member will join a nationally recognized research program with a record of publication in refereed journals and external funding. The individual is expected to develop interdisciplinary collaborations, across campus and with other academic institutions and PBRNs, to enhance the research program in family medicine.

Service
The faculty member will serve on departmental, College, and/or University committees as necessary, as well as in a professional capacity in their field, e.g., reviewer, conference organizer, etc.

Clinical activities
The faculty member will also have 50% ambulatory Primary Care clinical duties.

Required Qualifications

• Medical degree and board certification in Family Medicine
• Experience with health services and public health research projects
• A developing scholarly/research portfolio that has potential for advancing primary care, health services research, and public health
• A publication record suitable for entry rank
• Demonstrated experience working in and fostering a diverse faculty, staff, and student environment or commitment to do so as a faculty member at VCU

Preferred Qualifications

• Additional training or experience in public health, preventive medicine, or epidemiology, including masters (e.g., MPH) or doctoral level (DrPh) training
• Experience with community-based participatory research (CBPR) or community/stakeholder engagement
• Knowledge of social epidemiology and socio-ecological influences on health
• Excellent writing skills, preferably demonstrated in writing samples from prior grants or publications
• Experience working on an interdisciplinary research team. Preference will be given to candidates who can effectively engage with our current faculty in several research projects that are funded and underway; as well as those who can quickly understand and grasp the unique challenges of working with a Practiced Based Research Network (PBRN)

ORP Eligible: Yes