Chair & Member - Department of Biostatistics
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Summary
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is seeking a Chair of the Department of Biostatistics who sees biostatistics as an intellectual engine of biomedical discovery.
Job description
We seek candidates with a strong record of scholarship in statistical methodology and demonstrated leadership. Experience in a cancer center or academic medical center setting is highly desirable. Additional expectations include strategic and academic leadership, financial acumen, the ability to secure external funding and a genuine commitment to faculty mentorship and career development.
At St. Jude, biostatisticians are embedded partners in science. They engage across the full research continuum, from shaping the original scientific question and study design through analysis, interpretation and publication. This is an environment where quantitative scientists help define the science, not simply support it.
The department is a substantial enterprise, with 75 members including 18 faculty, 39 staff statisticians/bioinformaticians, 7 post docs, as well as 11 computing and administrative professionals. Faculty research spans clinical trial design, statistical genetics and genomics, Bayesian methods, survival and longitudinal analysis, high-dimensional and functional data, causal inference, machine learning and artificial intelligence and predictive modeling. Faculty contribute to major multi-institutional efforts including the Children's Oncology Group and the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, and the department houses the Biostatistics Shared Resource of the St. Jude NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, which received an Exceptional score on its most recent review. The department also contributes to statistics education and training through the St. Jude Graduate School which includes an MS degree in Applied Biomedical Data Science. The next Chair will inherit a strong, mission-driven department and will have the opportunity to bring its people, capabilities, and collaborations into an even more cohesive whole.
Candidates should submit a curriculum vitae and a statement of interest emphasizing relevant scholarship, mentoring and leadership experiences.
Candidates should have a PhD degree in Statistics, Biostatistics, or a related field, or equivalent, and academic credentials that qualify for appointment at the full member (Professor) level.
Requirements
- PhD degree in Statistics, Biostatistics, or a related field, or equivalent
- Academic credentials that qualify for appointment at the full member (Professor) level
- Strong record of scholarship in statistical methodology
- Demonstrated leadership
- Experience in a cancer center or academic medical center setting is highly desirable
- Strategic and academic leadership
- Financial acumen
- Ability to secure external funding
- Commitment to faculty mentorship and career development
Company overview
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is a world-renowned pediatric research and treatment institution headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, dedicated to advancing cures for childhood cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Founded in 1962 by entertainer Danny Thomas, it stands as the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted exclusively to children. The hospital operates on a unique funding model where families never receive bills for treatment, travel, housing, or food, with costs exceeding $2 billion annually primarily supported by donations through its fundraising organization ALSAC. St. Jude treats approximately 8,600 patients each year from all 50 states and around the world, with a focus on acute lymphoblastic leukemia, brain tumors, sickle cell disease, and infectious diseases. The institution employs over 7,000 staff members and maintains eight affiliate clinics across the United States. Through its St. Jude Global initiative, the hospital shares research and treatment protocols internationally, partnering with more than 350 institutions in over 90 countries. St. Jude has been instrumental in increasing childhood cancer survival rates from 20% in 1962 to over 80% today, while maintaining a robust research program that includes gene therapy, bone marrow transplantation, and precision medicine approaches.