Senior Associate Dean for Research

The University of Tennessee Health Sciences College of Medicine (UTHS COM) seeks a distinguished research leader with strategic vision, administrative experience, and demonstrated ability to work across multiple stakeholders to serve as the Senior Associate Dean for Research (SADR). Based in Memphis, the SADR will provide strategic and administrative leadership for the research mission of the college, collaborating closely with the Executive Dean and Vice Chancellor for Research to support and grow a robust research portfolio.

UTHS is defined by their mission to transform lives through collaborative and inclusive education, research and scholarship, clinical care, and public service. The COM, with campuses in Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Nashville, exemplifies this mission with their statewide service. The COM has over 14,000 alumni, with many providing care for patients across the state and region (COM faculty practice at hospitals across the Memphis region, with regional campuses maintaining strong affiliations with leading health systems in their cities). The COM drives research at UTHS, with almost $65 million in total research awards in FY25, including $38 million from the NIH. In 2025, University of Tennessee Health Sciences earned the prestigious R1 designation from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

The SADR will serve as the COM’s lead for research, overseeing a research portfolio spanning foundational to clinical research. The COM has strengths in neuroscience, cancer, substance use disorders, infectious diseases, genetics, genomics, informatics, and chronic diseases, with opportunities to grow in many different areas. The SADR will work with UTHS and COM leadership to identify strategic growth opportunities and support faculty as they develop their research portfolios. The SADR will oversee research infrastructure for the COM and collaborate closely with the Vice Chancellor’s Office of Research to ensure alignment with UTHS and system-level goals. The SADR will also maintain and grow existing relationships across the COM, campus, and system, and with external partners including health systems and research collaborators.

Reporting to Michael Hocker, MD, MHS, Executive Dean, College of Medicine, the SADR is charged with strategic and operational leadership across all College of Medicine research, fostering a culture of innovation, interprofessional collaboration, and scholarly achievement. Qualified candidates must hold an MD, DO, and/or PhD (or equivalent), with applicable leadership experience in an academic medical center setting. The successful candidate will qualify for an appointment as an associate or full professor in the College of Medicine and have a history of sustained external grant funding and an exemplary research publication record.

UTHS COM has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist in this recruitment. Inquiries, nominations, referrals, and CVs with cover letters should be sent below.

Jamie Sands is leading this search with Nick Strand and Lileana Sethares.

The University of Tennessee Health Sciences is an EEO/AA/Title VI/Title IX/Section 504/ADA/ADEA employer. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, or covered veteran status.