The Department of Biobehavioral Health (https://hhd.psu.edu/bbh) in the College of Health and Human Development (https://hhd.psu.edu) at The Pennsylvania State University invites applications for an open rank, tenured/tenure track addiction research faculty member whose research encompasses reducing disparities, including health, education, racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities, that are tied to addiction.

We seek a colleague who has an interdisciplinary research program that integrates behavioral and biological approaches to examine addiction in vulnerable populations, research expertise with populations who are disproportionately at risk for disparities, and research that illuminates how addiction may contribute to disparities in biobehavioral health-relevant processes and/or outcomes.

Programs that include the use of brain imaging (e.g., fMRI) and related neuroscience techniques to facilitate the development of new treatments and preventive interventions to improve addiction outcomes are of specific interest. In addition, given youth vulnerability to onset of substance use and abuse, research programs that incorporate adolescent populations are of interest. This position is part of a cluster hire by Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI; http://www.ssri.psu.edu) of up to eight new faculty members across the social and behavioral sciences, whose research focuses on reducing disparities. The scholarship and teaching of BBH faculty focuses on how biological, behavioral, psychological, sociocultural, and environmental variables interact to influence health. Departmental research includes physiological processes; health behaviors; neuroscience; health disparities; genetics and epigenetics; chronic disease; psychological states and processes; environmental exposures; bioethics; global health; public health and prevention sciences. Department faculty are highly research active, interdisciplinary, and collaborative.

This position will build on the growing strength of departmental expertise to promote and enhance a vibrant, rigorous, and interdisciplinary research environment that aims to improve health at the levels of both the person and population. The responsibilities of the position are to establish and/or continue a fundable line of interdisciplinary addiction research relevant to disparities, teach graduate and undergraduate courses, supervise student research, and provide service to the Department, College, SSRI, and University. Applicants should have a strong record of scholarly research in addiction and disparities commensurate with their experience, and show excellent potential to establish external research funding.

A doctorate in neuroscience, behavioral science, psychology, biology, sociology, public health, genetics, biostatistics or a related field is required. In addition to involvement in SSRI, there are opportunities for affiliations with a range of research centers and institutes at Penn State, including the Social, Life and Engineering Sciences Imaging Center (https://www.imaging.psu.edu); Prevention Research Center (PRC; http://prevention.psu.edu/); Huck Institute of Life Sciences (https://www.huck.psu.edu/); Center for Educational Disparities Research (CEDR, http://www.ssri.psu.edu/center-educational-disparities-research); Child Study Center (CSC, http://csc.la.psu.edu/); Methodology Center (https://methodology.psu.edu/); Quantitative Developmental Systems Core (https://quantdev.ssri.psu.edu/); Child Maltreatment Solutions Network (http://solutionsnetwork.psu.edu/); Population Research Institute (www.pop.psu.edu); Center for Healthy Aging (http://healthyaging.psu.edu), Africana Research Center (http://arc.la.psu.edu/); Penn State Cancer Institute (https://cancer.psu.edu/); Institute for CyberScience (https://ics.psu.edu) and the Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (http://ctsi.psu.edu/). The successful candidate will be committed to and able to work effectively with diverse populations and audiences, as well as with diverse students, faculty, and staff. Salary is competitive, commensurate with background and experience. An attractive benefits package is available. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. The expected start date is August 2019.

Questions about this position may be directed to the search committee chair, Dr. Robert Turrisi, at bbhfacultysearch@psu.edu. To apply, applicants must complete an online application including a cover letter describing research and teaching interests and experiences, curriculum vitae, and 3 reprints or preprints that convey research interests and expertise. Four professional letters of reference should be sent directly from the letter writers to Dr. Robert Turrisi at bbhfacultysearch@psu.edu or postal mail to Dr. Robert Turrisi, The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Biobehavioral Health, 219 Biobehavioral Health Building, University Park, PA 16802. Please indicate “Addiction – BBH search” in the subject line of email correspondence.