Job Board

Job Description

The Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology (BPK) invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor in Cardiac Arrhythmias to commence September 1, 2024, or a mutually agreed-upon date.

Desired research area
The ideal candidate will lead a research program using stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) to investigate inherited arrhythmias and cardiomyopathies at the Cellular and Regenerative Medicine Centre (CRMC). Areas may include studies on genetic variants associated with arrhythmias (e.g., ion channelopathies, sarcomeric proteins) or other cardiac diseases. Through their research, the ideal candidate will make use of available state-of-the-art infrastructure designed for optimal development and phenotyping of hiPSC-CMs to study this cardiac dysfunction. The candidate will have a collaborative disposition and sufficiently broad interests and expertise to readily engage in collaborations with other researchers in BPK, at SFU and UBC, and with the broader cardiac arrhythmia community.

Core duties of the Assistant Professor in Cardiac Arrhythmias:
• Research: Develop an externally funded research program devoted to advancing the field of channelopathy / cardiomyopathy research using hiPSC-CMs, supervise and mentor graduate students and other highly qualified personnel, and disseminate discoveries through peer- reviewed publications, conference presentations, and other forums appropriate to the discipline.
• Teaching: Teach undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of molecular cardiac physiology and contribute to curriculum and program development.
• Service: Serve the Department, the University, and the larger scientific community by contributing to committee work and in departmental initiatives.
The typical workload distribution for assistant professors in BPK is 40% research, 40% teaching, and 20% service. In carrying out these duties, the successful candidate will advance BPK’s goals to foster equity, diversity, and inclusion; for example, by working to eliminate the barriers that impede the ability of department members from historically underrepresented and marginalized populations to achieve their full potential. The successful candidate will foster a positive and inclusive working environment through respectful interactions with all faculty, staff, and students. The responsibilities, terms, and conditions of employment of faculty are listed in the SFUFA-SFU Collective Agreement.

The following credentials, skills, expertise, experience, values, and attitudes comprise the desired qualifications.
The successful candidate must:
• Hold a PhD, MD, or equivalent degree in molecular cardiac physiology, biophysics, electrophysiology, biomedical engineering, or a related discipline.
• Have at least one year of postdoctoral or related research experience.
• Have demonstrated excellence in research making use of hiPSC-CMs to study various aspects of cardiac function or dysfunction. Excellence will be assessed in various ways, including but not limited to the following criteria:
o Extensive experience conducting scientific studies in cardiac biophysics
o High-quality scientific publications in the leading peer-reviewed journals of the field
o Awards or external funding (e.g., scholarships)
o Disseminated discoveries via conferences, seminars, and other mechanisms for knowledge translation
• Articulate a compelling vision for a research program that addresses questions of fundamental importance to the field and has clear potential to attract top-quality trainees, external funding, new scientific collaborations, and uptake by knowledge users.
• Show clear potential for excellence as a mentor of research trainees, especially those from equity- deserving groups.
• Demonstrate deep and broad knowledge of the fields of molecular cardiac physiology to teach undergraduate and graduate courses effectively in these areas.
• Show strong potential for effective teaching of undergraduate courses and fostering of inclusive learning environments.
• Show strong potential for effective knowledge translation and community engagement.
• Demonstrate outstanding interpersonal and communication skills (oral and written, in English). These skills include but are not limited to strong listening skills, valuing and respecting diverse perspectives, and a collaborative disposition.
• Show strong potential to be an engaged academic citizen, in part by demonstrating a record of volunteerism and participation in service activities, such as committee work and outreach initiatives.

The following qualifications are considered assets:
• Interest and capability for running patient-derived hiPSC-CM experiments to foster translation.
• Experience conducting research in diverse environments or from different perspectives.
• Show clear potential to collaborate within and outside the University.
• Previous or existing collaborations with leading researchers.
• Have assisted or led the teaching of undergraduate courses, and in so doing demonstrated keen interest in teaching, strong pedagogical skills, and effectiveness in fostering inclusive learning environments.
• Demonstrated experience in increasing diversity in their previous institutional environment(s) or in curricula.
• Experience or goals to apply research to better understand and address health issues affecting underrepresented populations.
• Interest, experience, and expertise in entrepreneurship and technology development.
• Leadership potential, demonstrated by leadership roles, formal leadership training, or leadership abilities.

The full job ad can also be found on this website:  https://www.sfu.ca/vpacademic/academic-careers/faculty-positions/science.html.