Assistant/Associate Professor Tenure-Track, Public Health

The College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (CEHHS) seeks applications for an Assistant or Associate Professor positionto be appointed in theDepartment ofPublic Health. The position is part ofthecollaborative initiative()betweenUTK and River Valley Health to address cardiometabolic health in our local communities.Faculty hired as part of thisinitiativewill workwithRiver Valley Health,a nationally known, federally qualified health center.UTK hasestablishedan organizational memorandum of understanding withRVHto supportcollaborative research and academic programming between the two institutions.

The candidate will collaborate with two additional recently hired faculty within theinitiative, with one based in the Department of Nutrition(Dr. Jared McGuirt)and the other based in the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sports Studies(Dr. Chad Wagoner), to create acollaborativeteam within CEHHS whose work will targetcardiometabolic healththrough a multi-levelapproachacross the spectrum of care (system, provider-patient interaction, out-clinic-support).The candidatewill spendthe majority oftheir research effort working with the initiative to develop, execute, and sustainalong-termcollaborative, scholarly agenda.

We seek an established scholar whose work targets the prevention and treatment ofcardiometabolic disease,primarily through adult humansubjectsresearch,particularly in populations who are low-resourced.The candidate should havefamiliarity with multi-level interventions, apply health-relevant theoretical frameworks in research,andhave strong quantitative or mixedmethodsresearch skills.

Scholars with a strong interest andexpertisein areas such as health services research, bioinformatics, and/or primary care would be a good fit and would complement, but not significantly overlap with,the existing cluster faculty (Drs. McGuirt and Wagoner)expertisein the fields of nutrition and physical activity.Applicantsareadvised tostronglyconsiderhow their research agenda will complement, rather than fully overlapwith the existing clustermembers when applying.Leadership experience in developing community-engaged initiatives and high-impactscholarshipwould be highly desirable.

The successful candidate will: (a) lead research programmingwithin a team-science frameworkwith Drs McGuirt and Wagoner,andbein alignment withdepartmental, CEHHS, andRVHresearch initiatives; (b) participate in related collaborative research programs; (c) provide teaching in the Department of Public Health's educational programs; and (d) mentor MPH/PhD students.

This 9-month, fulltime (1.0 FTE), position begins August 1, 2026. Starting salary iscommensuratewith experience. UTK has a competitive benefits package, and 9-month tenure-track faculty are eligible for summer salary.UTK is Tennessee's flagship land grant university and is currentlyin the midst ofunprecedented growth in enrollment, with over 38,000 enrolled students.The University is also a Carnegie Foundation Research (R1) University withhighestresearch activity and has achieved a Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement. Forbes Magazine ranked UTK as one of the best places to work in the US, several years in a row, including a ranking of ninth among public higher education institutions in the United States.

The Knoxville campus of the University of Tennessee is seeking candidates who have the ability to promote an atmosphere where all members of the university community feel welcome and can thrive.

Candidates must have earned their doctorate in public health, a related social or behavioral science field,or have a doctorate in another field with a history of research or work experiencedirectly applicable to the RVH/UTK collaborative initiative.

Candidates for the Assistant Professor rank should:

havea doctorate degree OR be in the final stages of their doctoral studies andanticipatedegree completion before the commencement of employment.

demonstrate a clear research trajectory, asevidencedby scholarly publications or work toward publications.

have high potentialofsuccessful extramural funding.

Candidates for the Associate Professor rank should:

demonstrate an established research agenda and record of scholarly activity.

haveexperience with successfullyacquiringextramural funding.

The successful candidate must meet the qualifications for being an assistant or associate professor within the department.Successful candidateswill have a research focus in one or more of the following areas: health services research (outpatient health delivery and patient support, health systems planning, electronic health records/patient portals), chronic disease prevention, behavioral health/medicine, and/or dissemination and implementation science. Candidate must havedemonstratedexperience in productive interdisciplinary collaborationsandinterest in community-engaged work.Preferred candidates will have leadership experience inteam science,a research portfolio that is complementary to the existing faculty that are part of the initiative, ahistory of successfully obtaining andmaintainingexternal funding anda strong desireto join a collaborative researchteam as described.