Assistant or Associate Professor in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Computational Drug Discovery and Development

About the Opportunity

About Northeastern:

The Bouvé College of Health Sciences has over 250 faculty members, with approximately 2,000 undergraduate and 2,400 graduate students. It is the leading national model for education and research in the health, psychosocial and biomedical sciences and supports the University’s mission of educating students for a life of fulfillment and accomplishment and creating and translating knowledge to meet global and societal needs.

The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences , Bouvé College of Health Sciences and the Chemical Engineering in the College of Engineering at Northeastern University invites applications for tenured or tenure-track appointments at all faculty position levels. We seek exceptional candidates in the area of drug discovery. This is a newly created interdisciplinary position for an exceptional academic scientist and teacher who would be jointly appointed in both departments. The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences includes 18 tenured/tenure-track faculty, three full-time teaching faculty, and faculty with affiliated appointments. Pharmaceutical Sciences enrolls approximately 90 M.S. students and 50 Ph.D. students.

The College of Engineering comprises five departments: Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Mechanical & Industrial Engineering. The Chemical Engineering Department (che.northeastern.edu) has 24 tenure/tenure-track faculty including joint appointments, 50% of whom are women, four teaching faculty, and one research professor. Chemical Engineering is home to over 400 undergraduates across 7 majors and combined majors and over 110 graduate students in Pharmaceutical Engineering and Chemical Engineering. Experiential education is a hallmark of our engineering programs many at leading biotechnology companies based in Boston's globally-dominant entrepreneurial space (Moderna, Editas, Gingko Bioworks). Northeastern's integrative education model is ranked #1 in Cooperative education program (US News and World Report: 2022) which leads directly to the remarkable career placement rate of 96% for our students.

The Institute for Experiential AI at Northeastern University (EAI) has over 90 active faculty members, including >60 core and >30 affiliate faculty, conducting interdisciplinary research in colleges and departments across the university. At EAI, we research and develop human-centric AI solutions that leverage machine technology to extend human intelligence. EAI also supports innovative outreach, education, and training in AI across Northeastern’s campuses and through a diverse network of industry partners. EAI is led by Professor Usama Fayyad—co-founder of the KDD conferences and ACM SIGKDD association for Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining—and has research cores in life sciences, health, climate/sustainability, ethical AI, and computational linguistics.

About the Opportunity:

Northeastern University is searching for qualified candidates to fill a faculty position as a tenure-track Assistant or Associate Professor in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Drug Discovery and Development. This thematic hiring opportunity is focused on identifying outstanding faculty candidates who are working on the identification of novel computational and modeling approaches towards discovery, development, and delivery of therapeutics to address critical health challenges. The faculty hire will develop Northeastern’s existing leadership in several key areas including drug discovery (through the Center for Drug Discovery), Artificial Intelligence (through the Institute for Experiential Artificial Intelligence) discovery of novel antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistance research, healthy aging, drug screening and targeted delivery, and computational approaches in drug discovery and development. 

The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Bouve and the Department of Chemical Engineering in the College of Engineering is looking for faculty with expertise in computational drug discovery, pharmacology, immunology, formulation development and targeted delivery, pharmacometrics, and computational life and health sciences in the context of therapeutic development and system pharmacology. Academic rank at the Associate Professor level will be commensurate with experience and qualifications reflecting a record of demonstrated teaching and scholarly excellence. The successful candidate will be located in Boston or one of our regional campuses (e.g., The Roux Institute in Portland, Maine, Oakland, Charlotte, Seattle to name a few regions of Northeastern’s global university system) with tenure home in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Bouvé College and will be jointly appointed in the Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering.

Our tenure and promotion process values collaborative research and teamwork. Hires will be mentored for success, with mentoring teams and group guidance. In addition, a strong and effective faculty development strategy is part of the Northeastern institutional mission. The ADVANCE Office of Faculty Development office works in conjunction with the Office of Research Development (ORD), the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI), the Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning Through Research (CATLR), and University Decision Support (UDS) to provide programs and trainings to further develop and support a thriving faculty.

At Northeastern University, we embrace a culture of respect, where each person is valued for their contribution and is treated fairly. We oppose all forms of racism. We support a culture that does not tolerate any form of discrimination and where each person may belong. We strive to have a diverse membership, one where each person is trained and mentored to promote their success.

Responsibilities:

The candidate will engage undergraduate and graduate teaching and student advising, lead/participate in experiential learning opportunities for students, such as capstones and research, as well as serving in dissertation committees, and engaging in service activities in the Department, School, College, and University. We seek individuals who can leverage their program of research to facilitate collaborations with other Colleges and nodes of Northeastern global university system (the Network), who are interested in health/healthcare data science and digital health broadly represented across disciplines and bring innovative pedagogical methods into undergraduate, graduate and professional lifelong learning.

Qualifications:

A doctorate degree in pharmaceutical sciences, chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, biology, chemistry, or a related field is required by the appointment start date. We seek an individual with a record of scholarly excellence with, where appropriate, a successful, independent and extramurally funded research program. Candidates should be committed to fostering diverse and inclusive environments as well as to promoting experiential learning, which are central to Northeastern University’s educational mission. Candidates must articulate or demonstrate a commitment to undergraduate/graduate teaching excellence and a record of interdisciplinary scholarly achievement commensurate with rank. Academic rank at the Associate Professor level will be commensurate with experience and qualifications reflecting a record of demonstrated teaching and scholarly excellence.  

Additional Information:

Interested candidates should apply here with a curriculum vita that includes a list of publications, and statements addressing the prompts below. Applications will be reviewed beginning on November 1, 2023. Questions can be directed to Professor Mansoor Amiji at [email protected].

Successful faculty at Northeastern will be dynamic and innovative scholars with a record of research and teaching excellence and a commitment to contributing to improved equity, diversity, and inclusion. Thus, strong candidates for this faculty position will have the experiences, knowledge, and skills to build their research, pedagogy, and curriculum in ways that reflect and enhance this commitment. Please indicate how your experience, knowledge, and skills have prepared you to contribute to this work with written statements addressing the following prompts:

Research statement:

Please describe the focus of your research, including the questions you have identified, the funding you have received to support the work (if applicable), the results you have discovered, and the products of these efforts. Please also describe any research you have undertaken with students, with the external community, and/or with individuals from marginalized groups. Finally, please outline the research directions you foresee pursuing in the Bouvé College of Health Sciences.

Teaching statement:

Please summarize your past instructional and mentorship involvement, your pedagogical philosophy, your plans/goals for teaching in the Bouvé College of Health Sciences (including existing and proposed courses), and your strategies for teaching and mentoring a diverse cohort of undergraduate and graduate students.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice and Belonging Statement:

Please provide a statement of your contributions to diversity that describes your past experience, activities, and future plans to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and belonging in your teaching, research, and service. Your statement should demonstrate an understanding of the barriers facing marginalized communities in your field and be in alignment with Northeastern’s mission to reflect the diversity of the societies in which it maintains campuses and meet the educational needs and interests of its diverse population. Some faculty candidates may not have substantial past activities. If that is the case, we recommend focusing on future plans in your statement. A more developed and substantial plan is expected for senior candidates.

Northeastern University is an equal opportunity employer, seeking to recruit and support a broadly diverse community of faculty and staff.  Northeastern values and celebrates diversity in all its forms and strives to foster an inclusive culture built on respect that affirms inter-group relations and builds cohesion. 

Northeastern has identified health as one of three major University-wide interdisciplinary strategic initiatives, and the University is making a significant investment in interdisciplinary health research with faculty hires in the last few years in data science and visualization (with a health data emphasis), environmental health, global health, health economics, health systems, health policy, personal health informatics, and population health.

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. To learn more about Northeastern University’s commitment and support of diversity and inclusion, please see www.northeastern.edu/diversity .

Position Type

Academic

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.  

Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as well as commuting & transportation. Visit https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/ for more information.  

Northeastern University is an equal opportunity employer, seeking to recruit and support a broadly diverse community of faculty and staff.  Northeastern values and celebrates diversity in all its forms and strives to foster an inclusive culture built on respect that affirms inter-group relations and builds cohesion. 

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other  characteristic protected by applicable law.

To learn more about Northeastern University’s commitment and support of diversity and inclusion, please see www.northeastern.edu/diversity .