Relevant Research Areas
The University of Utah’s Health Science Center has identified computational genomics as an exceptional strength of the University because of its outstanding established research programs, and potential for future growth. A particular appeal is the potential to translate insights to practice in collaboration with colleagues in clinical departments. In alignment with the 2021 Research Strategy, the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences (SVPHS) Research Unit will invest $1.5M to hire up to three faculty to build upon the success and international recognition of computational genomics at the University of Utah, with the potential for additional faculty recruitments in the future. Additional investments of up to $1.5M may be made to enhance infrastructure in association with this expansion in computational genomics faculty.
The recruited faculty will synergize with and extend the existing strengths of the current leaders in this space and build upon the world-class research in the Center for Genomic Medicine at the University of Utah. Specifically, this Initiative focuses on the recruitment of faculty with a primary research focus on the development of computational algorithms, data management systems, and software to harness large genomic and other healthcare-related datasets for purposes of translational research and applications. Successful candidates will demonstrate a commitment to enabling the design of experiments and generation of data that foster innovative methods development, biological insight, and translation to clinical practice.
The new recruitments should be tenure-line, have a strong record of research productivity, and have sufficient protected time to develop a robust research program. Selected recruits should be capable of securing multiple large grants within the first few years of appointment to support their research program.
It is anticipated that a formal search will be launched in the Fall of 2022, will feature an associated Rising Stars Symposium, and will have a multi-departmental search committee appointed by the Vice Dean for Research, Chris Hill, PhD, and the Associate Vice President for Research (currently Willard Dere, MD).
Recruiting Guidelines
- Successful candidates will be embedded in active research environments with a solid infrastructure to support high-quality research.
- Candidates will have at least 70% assigned research effort.
- Candidates will have a formally established faculty mentoring plan that includes an active mentoring committee that will provide valuable advice and guidance throughout the faculty member’s career.
- The SVPHS Research Unit recognizes the rich benefits of employing faculty of all ages, physical abilities, religions, races, ethnicities, gender, orientations, etc. and thus strongly encourages departments to engage in recruitment strategies to attract highly qualified individuals from diverse communities.
Funding Policies
- Recruiting and hiring will be the responsibility of departments at the University of Utah; this includes recruitment expenses, startup package, and salary.
- Matching funds will be available through the SVPHS Research Unit for Departments in the University of Utah Health Sciences.
- Up to $500k will be committed to support startup costs for each successful recruitment; other partnership models can be considered.
- A total of $1.5M will be committed towards faculty start-up funds.
- A total of up to $1.5M may additionally be available to enhance associated infrastructure.
- Decisions on whether or not to support a specific request for start-up funds or infrastructure funds will be made by the Vice Dean for Research, Chris Hill, DPhil, and the Associate Vice President for Research.