Director, Tobacco Control Research (F78390) | Massey Cancer Center & SOM

Mission or Goal of Unit:

VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center’s comprehensive designation - the highest recognition from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) - reflects our scientific leadership, depth and breadth of research, effective community outreach and cancer research training and education.

The VCU School of Medicine's mission is to improve health through exceptional and innovative discovery, training and patient care. With the help of our strategic plan, we will achieve our vision of being known for the accomplishments of our trainees, faculty, staff and alumni in research, education and patient care.

Chief Purpose of this position:

The VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center is seeking a visionary and innovative director of Massey’s Tobacco Control Research Institute. This position provides leadership and expertise for VCU and Massey’s research enterprise including but not limited to tobacco prevention, cessation, regulatory science and policy. The Director will hold a crucial leadership position within the Cancer Center and within Cancer Prevention and Control program and will lead and catalyze scientific research across the institution in the broad area of tobacco control. A cross-cutting focus of the work across center is on advancing community engaged research within the diverse catchment area and patient population.

The Director of the institute is appointed by the Director of the Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and will have a faculty position in Family Medicine and Population Health. The position will have access to substantial resources to help advance groundbreaking investigator-led research as well as support the growth of new funding in tobacco control science across the enterprise. Areas of interest that align with the strategic growth of the CPC program include cancer research related to social determinates of health, implementation science within community and clinical settings, community-engaged research, digital/telehealth/AI research, and cancer survivorship research.

The candidates for these positions will bring their expertise in tobacco control to the overall mission of the cancer center which includes a strong focus on reducing the cancer burden by addressing the confluence between biological, social and policy drivers on cancer disparities across the cancer care continuum. The candidate work collaboratively with researchers within the CPC program as well as with researchers and physician-scientists in the other programs.

This position is an open-rank faculty position that will play a key role in advancing the research mission and will be expected to work collaboratively with other members of the Massey Cancer Center so as to harness the considerable intellectual talent and scientific resources of VCU and focus them on solving the nation’s cancer problem. The faculty member will help to advance research under the Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) program aims of identifying multi-level drivers of cancer risk, developing interventions to reduce cancer side effect burden and/or mitigate cancer within the catchment area, and improving cancer outcomes for survivors and their caregivers.

Position Responsibilities:

Teaching
The faculty member shares a deep commitment to effective instruction, training and mentoring of medical students, graduate students, undergraduate, and post-doctoral fellows. They are expected to actively participate in providing research opportunities to fellows and mentor junior faculty.

Research
Contribute to VCU’s national reputation through research and scholarship (extramural funding, high quality publications, citations, and national recognition as through honorific awards and committee leadership) and maintain active involvement in appropriate national or international organizations and bodies. Publish in peer-reviewed journals and submit grant applications for extramural funding with a strong focus on reducing the cancer burden by addressing the confluence between biological, social and policy drivers on cancer disparities across the cancer care continuum. They serve as a PI on peer-reviewed grants and are responsible for complying with all institution and sponsors terms and conditions for grant funding.

The member will participate in Massey Cancer Center Core Grant application preparation as needed, this includes providing updates on active research, grants and publications. They participate and engage with other members of the Massey Cancer Center in cancer center activities and in collaborative research projects.

Service
Serves on institutional committees, study sections, review groups, as a journal editor, or editorial boards.

Required Qualifications:

• PhD, MD, or equivalent degree with training in medicine, epidemiology, public health, geo-spatial analysis, nursing, psychology, anthropology, behavioral science, behavioral economics, health services, communication, decision sciences, sociology, or other related fields
• Extensive cancer relevant research experience
• Nationally-recognized scholarly/research portfolio with a strong track-record of continuous NCI funding
• Strong record of pre-doctoral and post-doctoral training in their field
• Extensive peer-reviewed publication experience
• Proven trainee and faculty mentorship skills
• Track record working in multi-disciplinary fields
• Experience in, and coordination of, collaborative grants and managing trans-disciplinary research
• Demonstrated experience working in and fostering an environment of respect, professionalism and civility with a population of faculty, staff, and students from various backgrounds and experiences, or a commitment to do so as a faculty member at VCU

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working in a matrix environment within academic medicine
• Proven success in collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams

The Massey Cancer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University is a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center that hosts 1000-plus researchers conducting basic, population, translational and clinical cancer research. Massey Cancer Center is dedicated to saving and improving lives by discovering, developing, delivering and teaching effective means to prevent, detect and treat cancer and to making those advancements equally available to all. The Massey Cancer Center offers a competitive salary, lab start-up, a generous relocation bonus and initial research salary support.

Employees working in or with VCU Health in any capacity will be required to comply with all relevant health system policies and procedures, including the health system's vaccination requirements.

Further questions can be directed to Bernard Fuemmeler, Ph.D., Associate Director, Population Science at Bernard.Fuemmeler@vcuhealth.org.