Director, Research Core (Advanced Human-Relevant Technologies)

About the role

The University of Louisville seeks an inaugural Director of the Advanced Human-Relevant Technologies (AHRT) Core, a new core facility organized within UofL’s Office of Research and Innovation. The AHRT Core will focus on facilitating researchers’ success with organoids and other advanced human-relevant research technologies, commonly referred to as New Approach Methodologies (NAMs).

Responsibilities

• Lead the launch and operations of the AHRT Core, in collaboration with the Senior Director of Strategic Research Infrastructure and the AHRT Core Advisory Committee.
• Interface with university research leadership as a member of the Louisville Research Core program.
• Establish core services, Standard Operating Procedures, and workflows.
• Develop, validate, and troubleshoot the core’s protocols and assays at the bench.
• Hire, train, and manage core personnel; direct project prioritization; and ensure excellent relations with core users.
• Deliver and oversee AHRT Core scientific operations, including organoid generation and distribution, cell-based assay development and screening, and custom media manufacturing and distribution.
• Proactively network across campus to build awareness of AHRT capabilities and cultivate a broad user community, particularly during the early phase of core operations.
• Support development of a tissue procurement pipeline in collaboration with clinicians, pathology, IRB, and research compliance.
• Consult with investigators on human-relevant model systems and NAMs; provide support for investigators’ NIH and other grant applications.
• Train researchers on AHRT technologies; play a leadership role in preparing the next generation of biomedical researchers at UofL, including graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, through workshops, seminars, and hands-on training programs.
• Lead the core’s adaptation to emerging NAMs technologies in line with faculty research needs, including but not limited to organs-on-a-chip and other micro physiological systems.
• Collaborate with relevant units to integrate computational modeling and AI-assisted NAMs approaches with the AHRT Core’s experimental capabilities.
• Manage the core’s financial operations (e.g., cost analysis, rate development, usage tracking) and implement the university’s core facility management software, in collaboration with the Office of Research and Innovation.
• Seek federal and other funding opportunities to support AHRT Core operations.
• Build and maintain relationships with peer institutions, national facilities, and technology partners to facilitate researcher access to specialized capabilities beyond those available on campus.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related field and eight (8) years of relevant experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Ph.D. in biomedical sciences, bioengineering, or a related field.
• Three (3) or more years of hands-on experience with advanced 3D in vitro human models (e.g., human tissue-derived organoids, pluripotent stem cell-derived systems) and related laboratory techniques (e.g., directed differentiation, gene editing, cell-line engineering).
• Experience with fluorescence and confocal imaging and image analysis.
• Experience supervising or training others in a collaborative research environment and demonstrated ability to manage scientific operations or technical teams.
• Experience with, or demonstrated interest in, emerging NAMs platforms, including organs-on-a-chip.
• Prior experience working in, managing, or directing a core research facility.
• Experience supporting grant-funded academic researchers.
• Budget management experience; familiarity with cost recovery or user fee-based funding models a plus.
• Experience contributing to or securing extramural funding to support core or laboratory operations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with, or demonstrated interest in, emerging NAMs platforms, including organs-on-a-chip.
• Prior experience working in, managing, or directing a core research facility.
• Experience supporting grant-funded academic researchers.
• Budget management experience; familiarity with cost recovery or user fee-based funding models a plus.
• Experience contributing to or securing extramural funding to support core or laboratory operations.

Benefits

The University of Louisville has an exceptional benefits package; to learn more about our benefits, please visit here. Compensation Will Be Commensurate To Candidate Experience.

Equal Employment Opportunity

The University of Louisville is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. The University strives to provide equal employment opportunity on the basis of merit and without unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, sex, age, color, national origin, ethnicity, creed, religion, disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, veteran status, marital status, or pregnancy. In accordance with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Vietnam Era Veteran Readjustment Act of 1974, the University prohibits job discrimination of individuals with disabilities, Vietnam era veterans, qualified special disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, and other protected veterans. The University acknowledges its obligations to ensure affirmative steps are taken to ensure equal employment opportunities for all employees and applicants for employment. It is the policy of the University that no employee or applicant for employment is subject to unlawful discrimination in terms of recruitment, hiring, promotion, contract, contract renewal, tenure, compensation, benefits, and/or working conditions. No employee or applicant for employment is required to endorse or condemn a specific ideology, political viewpoint, or social viewpoint to be eligible for hiring, contract renewal, tenure, or promotion. Consistent with applicable law, demographic information is collected for aggregate reporting requirements. Demographic information provided through this application is not available to hiring managers/committees and is not considered in hiring or employment decisions.