Seeking Creative and Scholarly Leader | Division Director Health Services & Outcomes Research

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The Department of Pediatrics at Children’s Mercy seeks a creative and scholarly leader to serve as Division Director of the Health Services and Outcomes Research (HSOR) division and Population Health leader to the Children’s Mercy Research Institute (CMRI). The Division Director will be responsible for leading the research, educational, and quality missions of HSOR. The Division Director will foster collaborative ties throughout Children’s Mercy, bridging the division’s expertise in community and population-level health with the basic science, genomic, and clinical research enterprise across the Department of Pediatrics and CMRI.

This is a faculty position offering academic appointments at the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Medicine and the Kansas University School of Medicine, rank to be commensurate with experience.

Established in 2013, HSOR has quickly developed a national and international reputation for impactful translational science contributing to the publication of 69 peer reviewed papers in FY 2024. HSOR has a strong record for successful extramural funding with 37 current awards, 16 of which are HSOR PI led, and with 16 applications submitted in FY 2024. HSOR faculty and staff are experts in community engaged health research; health communication; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion research; behavioral obesity discovery and intervention; and computational approaches capable of drawing insights from large and diverse data sets. HSOR is also home to the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Core (BEC), the Community Engaged Research Team, and the Formative Research Team (FRT). All three groups have exceptionally strong and accomplished leaders:

• The BEC is a team of faculty and staff biostatisticians who both conduct independent investigation and collaborate with researchers at Children’s Mercy, applying their range of expertise in study design and analytic methods including multi-level and mixed modeling, latent variable modeling, longitudinal models, survival analysis, patient reported outcomes, clinical trial design, and statistical genomics.
• The Community Engaged Research Team facilitates the CMRI Community and Youth Research Advisory Boards to promote equitable community-research partnerships.

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• The Formative Research Team (FRT) consults and collaborates with researchers to design studies grounded in social and behavioral theory; design and conduct rigorous in-depth interviews, focus-groups, and surveys; analyze qualitative data; and disseminate and integrate findings into interventions and their evaluations.

The foremost qualities necessary for this position is vision for the field of health outcomes research, including the use of qualitative and quantitative data as well as evolving technologies to favorably impact health research and populations. Other desired characteristics include:

• a track record of extramural funding
• history of mentorship
• interest in academic infrastructure and research finances
• successful collaborations with administration, hospital, medical, and research partners
• unwavering commitment to the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion
• commitment to developing a culture of high team accountability and professionalism

The individual selected for this position will be a strategic and highly communicative leader with a doctoral degree (PhD, MD/PhD or MD). The Division Director of HSOR reports to the Chair of Pediatrics.

About Children's Mercy Kansas City

Children’s Mercy Kansas City is an independent, non-profit, 390-bed pediatric health system, providing over half a million patient encounters each year for children from across the country. Children’s Mercy is ranked by U.S. News & World Report in nine specialties. We have received Magnet® recognition five times for excellence in nursing services. In affiliation with the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Kansas, our faculty of nearly 800 pediatric specialists and researchers are actively involved in clinical care, pediatric research and educating the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists.

The Children’s Mercy Research Institute (CMRI) integrates research and clinical care with nationally recognized expertise in genomic medicine, precision therapeutics, population health and health care innovation. In 2021, the CMRI moved into a nine story, 375,000 square foot space emphasizing a translational approach to research in which clinicians and researchers work together to accelerate the pace of discovery that enhances care.