Chief Research Informatics Officer F66840

Mission or Goal of Unit: The mission of the School of Medicine is to provide preeminent education to physicians and scientists in order to improve the quality of health care for humanity. Through innovative, scholarly activity and a diverse educational context, the School seeks to create and apply new knowledge, and to provide and continuously improve systems of medical and science education. Furthermore, it is our mission to develop more effective healthcare practices to address the needs of the diverse populations we serve and to provide distinguished leadership in the advancement of medicine and science.

Chief Purpose of this position: The CRIO will oversee the continued implementation, expansion, and on-going management of VCU’s clinical research informatics infrastructure, including bioinformatics and biomedical informatics core resources. The CRIO will also oversee informatics programs within the C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research, which is VCU’s CTSA supported research center, and the Massey Cancer Center, which is an NCI designated cancer center. The Chief Research Informatics Officer will report to the Director of the C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research for biomedical informatics within the Wright Center and to the Director of the Massey Cancer Center for informatics cancer activities. Direct reports to the CRIO include the Director of Clinical Data Services and other direct reports.

Position Responsibilities:

• Develop and implement innovative approaches for executing research in data science that can be applied across the clinical and translational research enterprise to diverse populations.
• Lead the development of a formal applied clinical informatics research strategy for the VCU and VCU Health System that will serve as a template for collaboration that will lead to advances in clinical research and promote a learning healthcare system.
• Build on existing collaborations between VCU and VCU Health to develop an enterprise-level strategy for applied informatics that embraces the continuum from population-level care to personalized medicine.
• Expand informatics core resources to support VCU’s CTSA and CCSG programs utilizing substantial existing philanthropic and other funding to support this expansion.
• Enlarge funding streams for informatics research support through existing pilot grant programs to obtain external funding including NIH and other Federal funding, with an aim to build a sustainable program.
• Advocate for continued internal funding by showing the benefits of an applied informatics strategy that promotes research and data security.

Required Qualifications:

• At least 10 years of experience in clinical research informatics
• Direct experience in the health field with a preference for skills in clinical care delivery or assessment with understanding of the patient with longitudinal (phenotype) clinical data about each patient
• Experience in collaborative research, especially in interdisciplinary and translational science efforts
• Strong track record of extramural funding and research productivity in the area of informatics
• Experience in an academic health system and health related data security to effectively collaborate with VCU Health
• A strong understanding of both research and clinical care
• Demonstrated team building and leadership abilities to promote partnerships and successful collaborations
• Experience working in higher education and healthcare-related work environments
• Experience in finance and budget development and oversight
• Demonstrated experience working in and fostering a diverse faculty, staff, and student environment and commitment to do so as a faculty member of VCU
• Experience and ability to manage a diverse team, coordinate work, manage short- and long-term projects, and plan for the future
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills to communicate concepts, and processes clearly and effectively in oral and written form, explain technical information in “plain English” so that it is understandable to constituents
• A degree of M.D. and/or PhD with certifications or degrees in biomedical informatics, computer science or a related field

Preferred Qualifications:

• Eligibility for nomination as a tenure eligible, full professor with a distinguished chair in clinical and translational science at VCU

Chief Research Informatics Officer


Position Type: Faculty
Full time equivalent: Full time
Tenure: Open
Rank: Open
Months: 12
Department: School of Medicine

Salary: Commensurate

Contact Information:
Contact Name: Heather Brickley
Contact Email: Heather.Brickley@vcuhealth.org
Contact Phone: 804-828-9794