Canada Impact+ Emerging Leader in Computational Oncology

Job Category
Faculty Bargaining

Job Title
Canada Impact+ Emerging Leader in Computational Oncology

Department
Department of Urologic Sciences | Faculty of Medicine | Provost and VP Academic (Peter Black)

Posting End Date
October 14, 2026

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Job End Date
Ongoing

The expected pay for this position is $12,500/month

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

The Department of Urologic Sciences at The University of British Columbia (UBC) invites applications for a Canada Impact+ Emerging Leader in Health and Biotechnology, with focus in computational oncology. The Canada Impact+ Emerging Leaders program is a one-time initiative designed to support institutions in attracting internationally based Early Career Researchers to Canada. Emerging Leaders will receive research funding and institutional supports to advance transformative research in Canada’s strategic priority areas, build partnerships across sectors and borders, and translate their research into applications and impacts that benefit Canadians and the world. Canada Impact+ Emerging Leaders are six-year positions valued at $100,000 annually, renewable once for an additional six years, intended for exceptional emerging scholars who have the potential to lead in their fields. Applicants must be an early career researcher and be eligible to hold a full-time, tenure-stream appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor at UBC.

Under the Canada Impact+ Emerging Leaders program, nominees must have been working and residing outside Canada when the Eddie Goldenberg Research Chairs of Canada award (https://www.canada.ca/en/impact-pluschairs.html) is formally accepted. For this specific award, the acceptance date was July 1, 2026.

Applicants may apply regardless of their current location; however, candidates selected for nomination must meet this eligibility requirement on the award acceptance date in order to proceed. Expatriate Canadians wishing to relocate to Canada are welcome to apply.

The Department of Urologic Sciences (DUS), part of the UBC Faculty of Medicine, strives to develop and deliver programs of excellence in key areas of urology. With a robust and active clinical and research faculty, the Department is a leader in education, patient care and research.

In addition to an appointment as Assistant Professor, tenure- track, the successful candidate will be appointed as Senior Research Scientist in the Vancouver Prostate Centre (VPC) and Centre for Urologic Oncology of the M.H. Mohseni Institute of Urologic Sciences (MIUS) providing access to cutting-edge facilities and collaborative research networks, and opportunities for leadership in translational science.

Together, the UBC DUS, VPC and MIUS offer a uniquely collaborative ecosystem integrating access to well characterized clinical cohorts, state-of-the-art genomic technologies, robust computational infrastructure, and deep interdisciplinary expertise, creating a vibrant academic community committed to improving patient outcomes through innovation and evidence-based practice. Reporting to the Head of the UBC Department of Urologic Sciences, the successful candidate will be expected to develop and lead an independent research program in computational oncology, centred on new quantitative and machine-learning methods, including artificial intelligence and generative modelling, that integrate single-cell genomics and spatial profiling to study cancer evolution, therapy resistance, and immune escape in urologic cancers (especially prostate, bladder and kidney cancer). The program will draw on expertise in probabilistic modeling and causal machine learning, phylogenetic and evolutionary inference, clonal dynamics, and immune-tumour interactions, and will emphasize rigorous uncertainty quantification and reproducible, scalable analysis of large multi-omics datasets. The successful candidate will be expected to work closely with clinical and experimental collaborators to translate computational findings into testable hypotheses, biomarkers, therapeutic targets, and decision-relevant insights. The successful candidate will be expected to participate in the teaching activities of the Department, as well as provide mentorship and training to undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate learners.

The incumbent will also be expected to provide service to the University and broader academic community, including peer review, committee participation, and initiative development. They will work collaboratively across disciplines to advance strategic initiatives for the Department and Faculty. The successful candidate will contribute to fostering an environment that promotes inclusivity and embodies values of respect, integrity, compassion, collaboration, and equity. Equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice are essential to academic excellence, as well as to fostering an inclusive community for voices that have been historically underrepresented or discouraged.

The successful candidate will hold a Ph.D in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, or a closely related field., as part of the UBC requirement.

They will have demonstrated evidence of ability in teaching and scholarly activity, and will have:

• Demonstrated research focus on quantitative modelling of cancer evolution and clonal dynamics using single-cell genomics and/or longitudinal patient or experimental data.

• Research expertise in artificial intelligence (AI), causal machine learning, computational modelling, and single-cell multi-omics.

• Experience modelling mechanisms of genome structural dynamics in clinical cancer cohorts.

• Proven ability to develop novel computational and AI-driven methodologies, including Bayesian generative models, phylogenetic inference tools, and algorithms for multimodal data integration.

• Demonstrated history of collaboration with clinicians and experimental scientists, including work on patient linked cohorts or translationally relevant experimental systems. Prior experience teaching computational statistics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, Bayesian analysis, and software engineering. In addition, the successful candidate will demonstrate a willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own, and a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

The expected salary for this position is $150,000 per annum. The Faculty of Medicine is committed to offering equitable and competitive salaries, commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate. At UBC, in addition to a generous benefit package and highly valued pension plan, faculty members also have access to a comprehensive range of leaves, services, resources and career development opportunities. For more information, please visit: https://hr.ubc.ca/working-ubc. An application package should include:

1. A cover letter (1 page)

2. The main application, containing the following sections:

a. Most significant contributions statement (1 page)

b. Research program proposal (5 pages, excluding references)

c. Teaching and mentorship statement (1 page)

d. Equity, diversity, and inclusion statement of the applicant’s current or planned contributions to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in academic, professional, or community contexts (1 page)

3. A full curriculum vitae (no page limit)

4. Three reference letters

5. In alignment with UBC’s commitment to creating an equitable and diverse environment that fosters academic excellence, candidates are encouraged to complete a self-identification survey: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_exPuSwFzPyvB8Ee

• Applications should be submitted Applications should be submitted online at https://ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com/ubcfacultyjobs (JR25990#).

Should you have any queries around this position, please contact Karen du Plessis, Admin Manager at [email protected].

Review of applications will begin on October 15, 2026 and continue until the position is filled. Emerging Leaders are expected to start their positions at UBC no later than 30th June, 2027.

Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence UBC hires based on merit and is committed to employment equity. Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters inclusion for underrepresented voices and those who feel discouraged. Inclusion is built through individual and institutional responsibility, achieved by continuous engagement with diversity, to inspire people, ideas, and actions for a better world. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person. UBC is committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive, non-discriminatory, and accessible work environment for all members of its workforce. UBC is also committed to ensuring that the application and interview process is accessible to all applicants. Throughout this hiring process, we will work to ensure accessibility for all candidates. If you have any questions regarding accommodations or accessibility during the recruitment and hiring process or for more information and support, please visit UBC’s Center for Workplace Accessibility website at https://hr.ubc.ca/health-and-wellbeing/workplace-accessibility/centre-workplace-accessibility or contact the Centre at [email protected]. Job applicants requiring confidential accommodation or accessibility, or requests for adaptive measures to participate in the hiring process, should contact Karen DuPlessis, Admin Manager at [email protected]. The UBC Vancouver campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people. The UBC Okanagan campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation. UBC is dedicated to being a world leader in advancing Indigenous peoples' human rights and is guided by a mission of reconciliation, as articulated by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. It is firmly committed to recruiting Indigenous faculty, students, and staff as outlined in its Indigenous Strategic Plan. As one of the world's leading universities, UBC creates an exceptional learning and research environment that fosters global citizenship and advances a civil and sustainable society, serving the people of British Columbia, Canada, and the world. UBC recognizes the legitimate impact that leaves (e.g., maternity leave, parental leave, leaves due to illness, leaves due to caring for family members, slowdowns due to chronic illness or disability, or COVID-19 impacts) can have on research achievement and commits to ensuring that leaves are taken into careful consideration during the assessment process. Candidates are encouraged to highlight in their application how career interruptions and personal circumstances have affected their careers. Nominations are subject to review by the Tri-agency Institutional Programs (TIPS) Secretariat, and appointment as a Canada Impact+ Emerging Leader is conditional upon their approval. Consult the Canada Impact+ Emerging Leader recruitment website https://www.canada.ca/en/impact-plus-chairs/programdetails/competition/2026/requirements-for-recruitment.html for further details. With gratitude, we acknowledge that the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine and its distributed programs, which include four university academic campuses, are located on traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of First Nations Peoples and communities around the province. Our Vision: To Transform Health for Everyone. Ranked among the world’s top medical schools with the fifth-largest MD enrollment in North America, the UBC Faculty of Medicine is a leader in both the science and the practice of medicine. Across British Columbia, more than 12,000 faculty and staff are training the next generation of doctors and health care professionals, making remarkable discoveries, and helping to create the pathways to better health for our communities at home and around the world. The Faculty - comprised of approximately 2,200 administrative support, technical/research and management and professional staff, as well approximately 650 full-time academic and over 10,000 clinical faculty members - is composed of 19 academic basic science and/or clinical departments, three schools, and 24 research centres and institutes. Together with its University and Health Authority partners, the Faculty delivers innovative programs and conducts research in the areas of health and life sciences. Faculty, staff and trainees are located at university campuses, clinical academic campuses in hospital settings and other regionally based centres across the province. UBC - One of the World's Leading Universities. As one of the world's leading universities, the University of British Columbia creates an exceptional learning environment that fosters global citizenship, advances a civil and sustainable society, and supports outstanding research to serve the people of British Columbia, Canada and the world. UBC hires on the basis of merit and is committed to employment equity. All qualified persons are encouraged to apply. Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person.