Director, Alliance for Neurodevelopment Research

Job Description

The School of Neuroscience and the Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech invite applications at the -Associate or -Full Professor rank to lead the newly established Alliance for Neurodevelopment Research and join the existing interdisciplinary School of Neuroscience faculty.

With 50 affiliate faculty across six colleges, Virginia Tech is well-positioned to become a national leader in neurodevelopmental research by leveraging existing areas of strength across the University. Current research programs span development and maturation of brain cell types and synaptic development, neurogenesis and circuit development, language development, learning, juvenile animal behavior, synaptic plasticity, the role of environmental toxins, stress, drugs, and immune system dysfunction on brain development. These programs intersect with researchers studying human brain development.

The successful candidate will have a demonstrated history of significant and ongoing well-funded research, scholarly achievement, and a distinguished national/international reputation in the neurodevelopment field. Additional desired qualifications of the new Director for the Alliance for Neurodevelopment Research include, demonstrated increasing leadership responsibilities, problem-solving skills, ability to work across organizational boundaries to bring together faculty, staff, and trainee stakeholders, a commitment to inclusive leadership - including enthusiasm to foster and promote a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment.

Additionally, the successful candidate will have the purpose-driven leadership to execute and carry out a vision for the Alliance - including a commitment to create community across faculty, grow the national reputation of neurodevelopment research, and enhance training opportunities for trainees at all levels at Virginia Tech. This position will offer a highly competitive start-up package and laboratory space.

Applications must be submitted online at (Posting #527747) and should include:

Cover Letter (describing their interest in the School of Neuroscience and the Alliance for Neurodevelopmental Research) Curriculum Vitae Three References 3‐page Research and Vision Statement 1‐page Teaching Statement (describing an integrated vision for Neuroscience education) Diversity/ Statement

Review of applications is ongoing and will continue until the position is filled.

About the School of Neuroscience and the Fralin Life Sciences Institute

School of Neuroscience
Established in 2015, the School of Neuroscience is a collaborative academic research environment with 25 primary and over 50 affiliate neuroscience faculty, a Neuroscience Ph.D. program, and over 800 undergraduate neuroscience majors. Using organisms from flies to humans, the School of Neuroscience faculty explore how the brain develops, and ages, how neurons and glia interreact with one another to create functional circuits, and how these circuits create or modulate behavior, such as learning, decision-making, and sleep. Our researchers are looking at these questions in the healthy brain, in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, in psychiatric disease, in neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, in drug abuse, and in brain injury.

Fralin Life Science Institute
The FLSI is a strategic university investment institute whose mission is to enhance the quality, quantity, and competitiveness of life and environmental science research, education, and outreach within Virginia Tech. The Institute creates and facilitates opportunities for cooperative and productive research among faculty across the university through targeted investment of seed funding, shared research facilities, and laboratory space. FLSI has approximately 350 faculty affiliates across all nine Virginia Tech colleges and supports hundreds of graduate students and postdocs. Among the Institute’s major investments are five research centers: Center for Neurodevelopment Research, Global Change Center; Center for Coastal Studies; Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Arthropod-borne Pathogens; and the Translational Plant Sciences Center. With approximately 40 full-time employees, the Institute currently manages five major research facilities. The Institute is responsible for enabling cutting-edge research through identifying, obtaining, operating, and coordinating core services that include mass spectrometry, genomics, imaging, and state-of-the-art high-performance computing. New investments are expected to embrace systems approaches that take full advantage of the interface of theoretical, experimental, and computational science. Major initiatives, like the growth in health and biomedical sciences, including growth at the Roanoke Health Sciences and Technology Campus, collaborations with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, and their new partnerships with Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC; the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus; the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative; and the Virginia Tech National Security Institute, promise to accelerate growth in Virginia Tech’s research enterprise.

Required Qualifications

Applicants must demonstrate a strong background in neuroscience-related research as evidenced by:

Demonstrated history of significant and ongoing well-funded research, scholarly achievement, and a distinguished national/international reputation in the neurodevelopment field. Demonstrated increasing leadership responsibilities, problem-solving skills, and ability to work across organizational boundaries to bring together faculty, staff, and trainee stakeholders. A commitment to inclusive leadership - including enthusiasm to foster and promote a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment. Clear examples of purpose-driven leadership to execute and carry out a vision for the Alliance - including a commitment to create community across faculty, grow the national reputation of neurodevelopment research, and enhance training opportunities for trainees at all levels; A doctorate (Ph.D., M.D., MD/Ph.D., DVM) in neuroscience or related field.

Appointment Type

Regular

Salary Information

Commensurate with Experience

Review Date

12/10/2023; Ongoing Until Filled

Additional Information

The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.

The position may require some travel to conferences and meetings. 

About Virginia Tech

Located in Blacksburg, Virginia, with growing campuses in Roanoke and the Washington D.C. metro area, Virginia Tech is a top 20 public research institution. With over $556 million in annual research expenditures, including rapidly expanding research and innovation capabilities across Research Frontiers, Virginia Tech is a national leader in research that is diverse, dynamic, and impactful. Major initiatives, like the growth in health and biomedical sciences, including growth at the Roanoke Health Sciences and Technology Campus, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, and their new partnerships with Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC; the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus; the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative; and the Virginia Tech National Security Institute, promise to accelerate growth in Virginia Tech’s research enterprise. Embodying its motto of Ut Prosim (That I may serve) and delivering on its land-grant promise, Virginia Tech’s research enterprise spans medicine to physics, engineering to humanities, and agriculture to the arts. It is broad in its sponsorship, partnership, discipline, and impact. Virginia Tech is a just and inclusive community that welcomes, encourages, and supports individuals who desire to contribute to and benefit from the institution’s missions of learning, discovery, and engagement.

Building on its motto of Ut Prosim (that I may serve), Virginia Tech is dedicated to ( serving in the spirit of community, diversity, and excellence. We seek candidates who adopt and practice the (), which are fundamental to our ongoing efforts to increase access and inclusion and to create a community that nurtures learning and growth for all of its members. Both the School of Neuroscience and Fralin Life Science Institute feel strongly that inclusion, equity, and diversity are values that we promote and hold in the highest regard. To be successful, faculty must not only excel in the domains of scholarship, education, and service, but are expected to contribute to enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the School, Institute, University, and/or community.

Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of age, color, disability, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, or military status, or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their compensation or the compensation of other employees or applicants, or on any other basis protected by law.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Jonathan Hedrick at during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to the event.

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