Assistant Professor (TRISH Space Health Research Scientist)

at  Baylor College of Medicine

BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AND DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:

The Center for Space Medicine (CSM) was established at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in 2008 to be a world academic leader in space biomedical research and education and to translate the advances in knowledge and technology to benefit life on Earth. The Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) is a federal grant awarded to CSM through a cooperative agreement with NASA. TRISH is a virtual institute based at BCM with consortium partners Caltech and MIT. TRISH is partnered with the NASA Human Research Program and awards federal grant funding to develop innovative approaches to reduce health and performance risks to humans on deep space missions. TRISH engages a vast network of companies, academic institutions, government labs, commercial space providers, and others to lead a national effort in translating innovative emerging terrestrial research into applied space flight human risk mitigation strategies for exploration missions. Further information is available at www.bcm.edu/spacehealth.

SUMMARY

TRISH seeks an exceptional scientist to work within a team to oversee and implement biomedical research to support our nation’s human spaceflight program.
The position will be primarily responsible for oversight, project management, and execution of TRISH’s spaceflight research initiative, Enhancing eXploration Platforms and ANalog Definition (EXPAND). For information on this initiative, see here. This position will also contribute to the development and technical oversight of TRISH’s HERMES Initiative. For an overview of HERMES, watch this video.
The ideal candidate will have excellent interpersonal skills, take initiative whenever possible, and quickly and elegantly improvise when faced with challenges related to executing biomedical projects in a resource-poor environment such as spaceflight or austere and remote environments on Earth. He or she also relishes thinking about the complete arc of biomedical research from study formulation to subject consenting, to hardware management, to procedure development and validation, to data collection, transfer, management, and distribution. This candidate must be an effective project manager.
The position would also provide the freedom and encouragement to pursue hypothesis driven research that utilizes the data that has been collected in the EXPAND program.
The individual will be a direct report to the CSM Center Director and will also report to the TRISH Deputy Director/Chief Engineer. The candidate will be eligible for an Assistant Professor faculty appointment within a department that is aligned scientifically. The Candidate will also receive an appointment in the Center for Space Medicine.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Doctorate (Ph.D., Sc.D.) in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics
Experience: Four years or more of relevant experience
Certification/Licenses/Registration: None Required.

Skills and Experience Requirements:

• Strong technical and operational background
• Four or more years of experience planning and executing experiments and projects within resource-poor environments such as space, underserved areas on Earth, or other relevant austere settings
• Demonstrated experience managing research studies and handling of scientific or medical data
• Proficiency in Microsoft Windows and Apple iOS operating systems

Characteristics and Qualities:

• Collaborative; comfortable following as well as leading
• Self-starter, fearless, and driven to plan and execute projects
• Strong communicator in written and oral skills. Comfortable sharing highly technical content with expert and lay audiences
• Open-minded, agile, and flexible problem-solver
• Comfortable with quick changes in directions and plans
• Highly organized planner with a strong capacity to pay attention to details
• Effective working in a hybrid work environment

Additional Requirements:

• 10-15% domestic and potentially international travel is required (once every other month)
• Substantial travel may occur on short notice and must be accommodated
• Hybrid work is available but must be based in the Greater Houston area
• Periodic in-person meetings at NASA Johnson Space Center are anticipated
• Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents

Baylor College of Medicine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Equal Access Employer.

• Oversee, plan, manage, and execute EXPAND daily operational research program within space and Earth-based analog settings to meet research objectives schedule, working closely with the EXPAND Research Operations Associate
• Coordinate a cohort of principal investigators, commercial spaceflight operators, and support staff to enable and carry out data collection and research studies
• Evaluate hardware/software to ensure quality/safety in executing EXPAND data collection activities
• Manage procedures/training protocols and conduct ongoing best-practices reviews of EXPAND data collection activities
• Oversee/ensure regulatory compliance with Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocols as well as federal and international laws protecting the privacy and confidentiality of human subject data and other signed agreements
• Perform study data collection pre- and post-flight at commercial launch provider facilities or flight landing sites in Florida or other states
• Help the institute mature and execute its EXPAND data-sharing plan and work with vendors to ensure data quality and accessibility
• Supervise the EXPAND program’s budget, including monitoring expenditures and ensuring that the budget is in line with expectations and NASA allocations
• Work collaboratively with external partners and with increasing frequency closer to scheduled space launches
• Work with the Deputy Director/Chief Engineer to support the development of the HERMES medical system architecture, including interacting with vendors and providing technical feedback regarding data acquisition and access
• Perform other duties as assigned to support all the TRISH Science Initiatives (SENTINEL, HERMES, EXPAND), including reviewing proposals when asked, monitoring science project progress, attending meetings, etc.
• Contribute to the CSM space medicine electives as a lecturer and advisor
• Participate as a faculty member in department and CSM activities at BCM