Associate/Full Professor Tenure System
Seeking well-funded senior and mid-career policy, implementation, and intervention scientists to expand a new community-partnered, equity- and policy-focused medical school department. The College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University (MSU) invites applications for multiple tenured full-time research positions (Associate or Full Professor) in the highly prolific and rapidly growing Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health in Flint, Michigan. These generous positions offer a unique opportunity for established researchers who seek to continue highly impactful programs of implementation, intervention, and policy research in topics that are both relevant to Flint and widely applicable. These include equity, social determinants of health, behavioral health, healthy behaviors, chronic disease, maternal-child health, and environmental justice, among others. A $25 million gift from the Flint-based Charles Stewart Mott Foundation allows us to largely or fully guarantee salary coverage for researchers who are willing to move their substantial research portfolios to MSU. Highly accomplished senior faculty may be eligible to receive the title of C. S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health.
An innovative premise. Located in Flint, Michigan, the Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health seeks to build on strong and energetic growth in research. Flint has a long history of community activism and involvement. It is one of the birthplaces of community-based participatory research (CBPR) and includes nationally recognized community pioneers and citizen scientists. For example, the first community representative to be President of the American Public Health Association in its 100+ year history, beginning her term in 2023, is a member of the Flint community. In 2011, the Flint community (including Flint-area hospitals) approached MSU with a proposal to create an academic Department of Public Health in Flint. Their idea was that the department would improve health through community-identified public health solutions, provide an economic driver for Flint, and lead the nation in health equity informed policy change. MSU agreed and took an unprecedented community participatory approach, building the Flint community into the Department and its governance, including focus areas, priorities, and faculty to hire. Through 1000+ surveys and more than 100 interviews, community members identified the top public health needs of Flint, providing the areas of focus for the new unit, which began as a Division in 2015. Community members make up and continue to make up much of the faculty search committee tasked with hiring the best public health researchers in the country to address these issues.
This radical experiment in community-partnered departmental administration has been wildly successful both in funding and in real-world impact. Departmental faculty have obtained over $200 million in extramural funding. Among its many projects, the Department currently includes two NIH-funded Centers (one in maternal health equity and the other in suicide prevention) and the first city-wide unconditional and universal cash prescription program for pregnant/postpartum people and infants. What began as a Division in 2015 became a Department in 2022, spurring a new phase of growth and development.
The current opportunity. Led by Founding Department Chair Jennifer Johnson, PhD, we seek to attract and generously support new research colleagues who are committed to conducting the high caliber, high impact, and community-partnered research that has come to characterize the department. To maximize the real-world impact of our findings, the Department is currently working to: (1) expand our strength in implementation and dissemination science; (2) continue innovation in sharing departmental governance with the Flint community; and (3) leverage a dedicated Departmental health policy advocate to move findings into policy.
We seek exceptional mid‐to‐advanced career investigators with innovative research portfolios focused on addressing the needs of underserved communities to join our energetic, mission-driven Department. Public health issues of high importance originally identified by the Flint community included health equity, social determinants of health (violence, safety, the built environment, education, employment), behavioral health (i.e., mental health and substance use), healthy behaviors (including screening/prevention), and chronic disease. Recent events have also highlighted maternal-child health and environmental justice. Primary research methodologies are action-oriented: implementation science (including sustainment), dissemination and communication, intervention and services research, and research to change health policy. The Department also includes three health geographers whose work focuses on identifying and eliminating the effects of racism on the built environment. Community members are ready to work alongside researchers to improve conditions here, nationally, and globally.
These are tenured, full-time research, medical school faculty positions through which we can largely or fully guarantee salary coverage for researchers who are willing to move their substantial research portfolios to MSU. There are no classroom teaching responsibilities but numerous opportunities for research mentorship if desired. Leadership opportunities in implementation science, in developing a health equity focused postdoctoral T32 training program, and in other areas are available. Because the Department is young, many things are possible. Salaries are very competitive, and the cost of living is low. Michigan offers a good quality of life, with many outdoor activities, more than 3,000 miles of Great Lakes shoreline (the longest freshwater coastline in the world), and a rich cultural heritage and diversity which includes Motown, Indigenous peoples, and the most Arab Americans of any U.S. state. Michigan has a rich history in the automobile industry and a thriving arts scene.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.
Doctorate -Public Health or related
- A PhD, DrPH, MD or similar in a field such as public health, health services research, health economics, social/health psychology, clinical disciplines (including medicine, clinical psychology, social work, nutrition, etc.), sociology, food science/human nutrition, health communications, and epidemiology.
- Successful applicants will have an established investigator-initiated research program and a record of NIH or related federal funding (i.e., PCORI, AHRQ, CDC, DoD, USDA, etc.) and peer-reviewed journal/articles.
- Associate Professor or Professor level applicants are expected to possess an established record of external funding and scholarship and the ability to build teams/clusters of scientists focusing on related topics.
- Demonstrated ability to provide leadership and collaborate across multi-disciplinary teams is essential.
- Identified areas of need include structural, policy, and other interventions to address violence, safety, education, poverty, and unemployment, substance misuse, mental health, smoking, obesity, maternal and child health, chronic diseases including cancer and cardiovascular illness, stress and coping, prevention/detection health behaviors, health disparities, sexually transmitted infections and access to care.
- Cover letter
- CV
- Names and contact information for 3 people who could serve as professional references
Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the positions are filled. Questions may be directed to Jennifer Johnson, PhD, Department Chair ([email protected]), or Amber Pearson, PhD, MPH, Search Committee Chair, ([email protected]). Learn more about the Department at publichealth.msu.edu.
09/02/2025
MSU strives to provide a flexible work environment and this position has been designated as remote-friendly. Remote-friendly means some or all of the duties can be performed remotely as mutually agreed upon.
https://publichealth.msu.edu
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