Position Description:
The Department of Nutrition in the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University invites applications for two tenure-track or tenured faculty positions at the level of Assistant, Associate, or Professor for an academic research scholar with established expertise in community-based intervention research, with a preferred focus on maternal and child health.
The Department is expanding its research portfolio and doctoral program in Community and Applied Nutrition. The growth area focuses predominantly on community-based approaches including educational, culinary and policy interventions that seek to improve maternal, child and family nutrition, especially among underserved populations. We seek individuals who can contribute to and collaborate across these approaches; have a strong record of leading successful interdisciplinary research projects and initiating novel, transformative research projects with colleagues across campus and the local community. The department is particularly interested in candidates with research interests in health disparities and/or interventions that can be extended to underserved populations in Greater Cleveland.
The successful candidate will also be expected to contribute to the educational and mentoring mission of the department, teaching at least one graduate level course per year within the department and contributing to the development of a new PhD track in Community and Applied Nutrition.
Cleveland offers a rich and supportive environment for community-based research. The individual will be encouraged to engage with colleagues at research centers across campus, including the Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods, Swetland Center for Environmental Health, Center for Reducing Health Disparities, and the Center for Community Health Integration. These centers have well-established partnerships with community organizations across the city, region and state, including but not limited to, pre-schools and secondary education schools, neighborhood clinics, emergency food programs, workplace wellness, churches, and neighborhood leadership groups.
In addition, a new state-of-the-art teaching kitchen is currently under construction for the Department offering culinary stations for 48 participants, as well as remote live streaming opportunities for innovative teaching, behavior changing research interventions and community outreach efforts. The commercial-grade kitchen is fully equipped with culinary and media resources that will enable innovative interventions and the delivery of content to diverse populations.
The Department is highly interdisciplinary with 22 faculty members in nutrition, maternal and child health, public and community health, metabolism, basic and translational biomedical sciences, with research ranging from molecular nutrition to clinical and community intervention studies to dissemination and implementation science. Eight faculty members are RDNs and a number of faculty have intervention development expertise that can be leveraged for research opportunities. In addition, the department has a strong undergraduate program and several master’s level programs: nutrition and public health nutrition both offered with and without dietetic internships, general nutrition, dual degrees (MS/MPH), and systems biology and bioinformatics. The department also leads a highly subscribed “Wellness Pathway” within the medical school curriculum focused on lifestyle and culinary medicine and has an established PhD program in nutrition as well as systems biology and bioinformatics. Students at all levels actively participate in faculty research.
Case Western Reserve University and its associated hospitals (University Hospitals, including Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and MacDonald Women’s Hospital, MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland Clinic, and Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center) also provides a rich environment for clinical and population health research, through large research collaboratives such as the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and with support and resources available through the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative (CTSC, http://casemed.case.edu/ctsc/).
In employment, as in education, Case Western Reserve University is committed to advancing an inclusive community in which everyone is welcome, respected, valued and heard. Along with colleagues across the university, our faculty, staff and students are engaged in continued and meaningful dialogue about issues of systemic racism, and we are determined to implement direct measures to end discriminatory practices on our campus and enhance our contributions to the communities around us.
As our society grapples with the history, legacy and persistence of entrenched racism and its impact on communities of color, we reaffirm our mission to expand opportunities for underrepresented groups; provide a multifaceted education for our students; foster a culture of diversity, pluralism and recognition of individual difference; and realize our ideals within the university and in the larger world.
Case Western Reserve University provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity at 216-368-8877 to request a reasonable accommodation. Determinations as to granting reasonable accommodations for any applicant will be made on a case-by-case basis.
