Population Health Sciences Faculty (Assistant or Associate Professor of Medicine)

The Opportunity

The University of Central Florida (UCF), College of Medicine is seeking applicants for a tenure-earning assistant professor of medicine or tenured associate professor of medicine within our Department of Population Health Sciences. Position will be tenure-track or tenured based on experience and qualifications.

The UCF College of Medicine is a research-based medical school with a culture founded on partnerships and collaboration. The UCF College of Medicine's mission is to create and cultivate an environment that honors and promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout all its institutions; and to heal, innovate, and transform healthcare for the benefit of all members of our society. The UCF College of Medicine offers a highly interactive, collegial research environment and has a location on the Academic Health Sciences campus, Lake Nona. UCF College of Medicine in Lake Nona is part of a growing "Medical City" that includes the UCF Lake Nona Medical Center Hospital, UCF Lake Nona Cancer Center, Orlando VA Medical Center, and Nemours Children's Health. Medical City provides a hub for healthcare innovation that is transforming Orlando into a global destination for health care, research, and health education.

The Department of Population Health Sciences is developing a robust interdisciplinary population health research team that will enhance the College of Medicine's research, teaching, and service programs through an exciting period of growth and expansion. The department currently consists of seven faculty with training in epidemiology, biostatistics, health behavior, implementation science, and social sciences. We seek to grow our department with faculty who possess expertise beyond the existing methodological base. As such, we welcome candidates from many different potential academic disciplines (e.g., health policy, public affairs, social epidemiology, sociology, social welfare, communication, etc.).

We seek faculty candidates who will contribute to research and teaching in at least one of the following areas of interest:

• Health policy development, advocacy, and evaluation. The desired candidate's interest should include health or social policies that have important health impacts (e.g., green space, food access, gun policy, housing, structural racism). Research should not solely focus on policy recommendations but also include empirical evaluation of health impacts of policy, laws, and policy change.


• Public health communication and messaging. We are particularly interested in candidates whose research addresses the selection of communication modes, messaging, and images that best improve public health and motivate behavior change for diverse and underserved populations. We are also interested in candidates with expertise in developing and testing communication interventions and public health messaging in diverse populations and across different diseases and conditions.


• Systems science and health systems. We are particularly interested in candidates who make use of empirical systems science methods (e.g., agent-based modeling, causal loop diagrams, system dynamics, network analysis) to address population health and healthcare systems that result in disparities.

Beyond the specific methodological specifications noted in the three interest areas, the specific disease focus or populations of interest in the candidates' research are open.

In a collaborative effort with faculty throughout the university, the Department is currently in the process of developing a two-year Master's in Public Health (MPH) degree program in Population Health Sciences. Within this program, students will have the opportunity to select one of five specialty areas: 1) Digital Health, 2) Cancer and Chronic Disease, 3) Infectious Diseases, 4) Community and Global Health, or 5) Health Equity. Applicants whose research fits broadly into one of these five MPH specialty areas are especially welcome.

Additional information about the Department of Population Health Sciences and its current faculty can be found at: https://med.ucf.edu/academics/academic-departments/population-health/population-health-sciences-faculty/ .