Director of the Animal Cancer Care and Research Center

The Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech seeks a skilled and focused leader for the position of Director of the new Animal Cancer Care and Research Center.  This Center is located in the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute on the Virginia Tech Carilion Health Sciences Campus in Roanoke, Virginia.  The facility provides comprehensive cancer care for veterinary patients in the Commonwealth of Virginia and surrounding states with a strong emphasis on comparative oncology research.

Vision:  To unify one-health cancer research and be the model for unparalleled care of pets and their families to accelerate cures for all.

The Animal Cancer Care and Research Center occupies 19,000 square feet on the first floor of the recently completed Virginia Tech Carilion Biomedical Research Addition.  The center includes client reception and waiting areas, exam rooms, offices and touch-down space for faculty, graduate students/house officers, conference room, research labs, reception/business offices, animal treatment rooms, chemotherapy delivery and chemotherapy preparation rooms, surgical suites, anesthesia induction room, sterile prep room, multiple animal holding wards, linear accelerator vault and control room, radiation treatment planning room, radiology suite, ultrasound suite, and a tissue collection room. The center is equipped with a state-of-the-art stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) linear accelerator, a digital x-ray machine, and an ultrasound machine with color doppler capability.  The center is immediately adjacent to the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute imaging core in order to facilitate shared use of advanced imaging equipment.  This imaging core includes radiation therapy specific CT, 3T MR and microCT and microMR with PET imaging capability.

The Director will have authority for fiscal, administrative, fiduciary, and programmatic functions of the center.  She/he will be responsible for ensuring proper business practices and internal controls to ensure compliance with university policies and procedures. This person will be a member of the college’s Executive Board and will report to the Dean.  The director will also maintain a reporting line to the Executive Director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute.  She/he will serve on boards in the Fralin Biomedical Research Center and the Academic Health Center to facilitate research collaborations and to advance the research mission of the college and the institute.  The Director will have a major role in the fundraising efforts of the college and the Academic Health Center to advance the clinical and translational research enterprise. This position will have an academic appointment in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences.  This position will be approximately 70% administrative with a 30% clinical or research commitment in support of the Center’s mission.

 The Director will serve as chief medical officer for the Animal Cancer Care and Research Center.  The center currently employs two medical oncologists, one radiation oncologist, two radiation therapists, and two surgical oncologists, as well as residents and interns.  The staff is comprised of a hospital administrator, business office team leader, part-time radiation physicist, multiple licensed veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants, and patient care coordinator. There will be a variety of students working in the center including DVM students rotating through oncology and surgery, house officers (residents and interns), graduate students, MD students and undergraduate students working on research projects.

Required qualifications:

• DVM or equivalent degree Diplomate of an AVMA recognized specialty college
• Demonstrated achievement and national reputation in oncologic teaching, service, and research/scholarship
• Previous administrative experience, exceptional communication skills, and leadership qualities that facilitate and encourage engagement and faculty development
• Evidence of interdisciplinary collaboration
• Commitment to advancing diversity and inclusion in an academic environment

Preferred qualifications:

• Graduate degrees (MD, PhD)
• Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, American College of Veterinary Surgeons, or American College of Veterinary Radiology