Governor's Chair in Biomedical Informatics

Governor’s Chair in Biomedical Informatics

University of Tennessee Health Science Center/

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) seek a clinical informatician interested in leading and growing our biomedical informatics expertise and resources to focus on reducing local, state, and national health disparities. Our primary interest is the use of biomedical information, including electronic health records data, in the development of successful interventions and programs that can have a measureable community impact and can be replicated at a state and national level.

The three key elements needed for informatics-driven clinical research that addresses health disparities are comprehensive clinical databases, computing/informatics capacity and capability, and a perspective on clinical issues and epidemiologic study principles.  We believe that we have many of these elements and seek a motivated individual to help us build the rest.

UTHSC is home to an active research enterprise, including basic, clinical and translational research. University leadership is highly supportive of innovation and research and particularly supportive of health disparities research, given its key importance to our local area. Together with city/county leadership, we hope to significantly reduce health and health care disparities in the next 10 years. UTHSC and its medical partners also house an active clinical enterprise through a variety of hospitals, physician practices and clinics. All of our clinical partners are presently using electronic health records (EHRs) or will be migrating to EHRs in the very near future.  Memphis/Shelby County is also home to an active Health Information Exchange (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ2kMtRH9NY ).

ONRL’s Division of Computational Sciences & Engineering has world-renowned expertise in the area of knowledge engineering and has recently brought this expertise to bear on the analysis of medical images and records.  We believe that robust hypotheses and a new level of understanding can be generated from the application of computational methods and data mining to diverse types of medical data such as molecular diagnostics, disparate electronic medical records, high-resolution images, and patient healthcare claims.

The successful candidate for this position will have senior leadership experience in a research setting, substantial expertise in biomedical informatics, an established track record of funded research that is commensurate with an endowed faculty position, as well as a history of partnering with multiple institutions to collaboratively address health disparities. This prestigious chair position will be associated with significant resources to start up and help sustain an active research portfolio.

Confidential review of materials will begin immediately and will continue until the appointment is made. It is preferred, however, that all materials be submitted by July 1, 2013.  Submit letters of nomination, applications (with a letter of interest, a complete CV, and a list of three references) or inquiries to:

Governor’s Chair in Health Informatics

P. O. Box 63647

Memphis, TN 38163

or preferably electronically to:

Search, Committee Chair, Dr. Teresa Waters, 

twaters@uthsc.edu