Herc-Higher Education Recruitment Consortium

School: Harvard Medical School

Department/Area: Biomedical Informatics

Position Description:

The Department of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School is hiring a Lecturer in Biomedical Informatics to support the educational mission of its Master of Biomedical Informatics program.

Founded in 2015, the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) is one of 11 basic and social science departments of Harvard Medical School. It is home to the Master of Biomedical Informatics Program (MBI) and the Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics PhD program (BIG), with a combined student body of over 100 graduate students. Additionally, the department hosts a 9-week undergraduate summer internship program.

The responsibilities of the Lecturer in Biomedical Informatics include teaching, curriculum development, research, as well as participation in student affairs activities. They will be part of a diverse team of faculty, researchers, and administrators and report to the Program Director of the Master of Biomedical Informatics. Lecturer in Biomedical Informatics will work closely with MBI program faculty and the MBI Curriculum Fellow.

The successful candidate will be appointed as Lecturer at Harvard Medical School. The initial appointment will be for one year and can be extended.

About our Educational Programs

The Master of Biomedical Informatics Program is designed to advance the use of biomedical data, information, and knowledge for scientific inquiry, problem-solving, and decision making. This program is created for students who are looking to develop skills in data science in the context of medicine and biological sciences to improve human health. It enrolls both post-baccalaureate and post-doctoral students. Post-baccalaureate students come from a wide range of undergraduate backgrounds but generally have strong quantitative and computational skills. Post-doctoral students are most often MDs who pursue the Master's degree during their research fellowship or PhDs with a degree in a biomedical subject.

The Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics PhD Program offers interdisciplinary training aimed at producing leading researchers in these areas. Most of our students come with a very strong background in a quantitative field as well as significant experience in molecular biology and genetics.

The department supports students in these programs through training grants from the National Library of Medicine and the National Human Genome Research Institute.

Typical Core Duties

Teach introductory courses in programming, statistics, and data science with applications to biomedicine (three to four semester-long courses per year)

If interested, one of the courses may be an advanced graduate course in biomedical informatics

Lead execution and development of the Master of Biomedical Informatics capstone experience, including the teaching of research skills

Develop and update course curricula in collaboration with the Program Director and the Curriculum Fellow

Manage teaching assistants, including hiring and orientation, training and development

Manage and initiate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts

Organize and participate in educational events, such as seminars, workshops, and conferences, as well as recruitment events

Basic Qualifications:

Doctoral degree in a relevant field, such as biomedical informatics, bioinformatics, medical informatics, computational biology, computer science, data science, or (bio)statistics

Aptitude in teaching introductory classes

Experience or at least a strong interest in the application of quantitative methods to biological sciences

Additional Qualifications:

Ability to effectively track details regarding day-to-day and longer-term initiatives

Strong comfort with technology and the ability to self-teach programs and processes that are not part of the current skill set. Familiarity with some of the following programs and processes would be helpful: online learning platforms (Canvas, Panopto), website editing (Drupal, HTML)

Ability to demonstrate leadership, program management, and strong communication skills (both written and verbal)

Demonstrated ability to work as a member of a team in cooperation with a diverse constituency, from administrative staff to students and faculty.

Contact Information:

Nils Gehlenborg, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School
Director, Master of Biomedical Informatics (MBI) Program
10 Shattuck St
Boston, MA 02115

Contact Email: nils@hms.harvard.edu

Special Instructions:

COVID-19 Pandemic Notice

The Master of Biomedical Informatics program has been operating remotely since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is not expected to return to the Harvard Medical School campus until at least June 2021. Nonetheless, successful applicants will be expected to take up residence in Massachusetts in order to comply with Harvard University employment regulations.

How to Apply

Candidates should submit an expression of interest, their CV, a detailed teaching statement, a diversity statement, a brief research statement (optional), and contact information for three references to nils@hms.harvard.edu with [LECTURER] in the subject.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions or any other characteristic protected by law.