CCHS - Assistant Professor/Associate Professor in AI-Driven Drug Discovery Development - Tenure...

The University of Alabama; Tuscaloosa (AL); On-site; USD 100,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Alabama invites applications for an Assistant/Associate Professor in Translational Science and Medicine. The successful candidate will build a research program at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Quantum Computing with a focus on drug discovery and development.

Responsibilities include teaching at undergraduate and graduate levels, mentoring students, and pursuing extramural funding.

Qualifications

• Doctoral degree in a relevant field such as computer science, computational chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences, biomedical engineering, or related disciplines.
• Strong research record with potential for extramural funding and publication impact.
• Commitment to teaching excellence and mentorship of students.

Responsibilities

• Develop and teach courses at undergraduate and graduate levels.
• Mentor students and junior researchers.
• Secure extramural funding to support research.
• Publish high‑impact research.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams across the university and external partners.

Education

PhD in CS/Comp Chem/BioEng

Tools

Python

R

HPC/Clusters

Job description

Department/Organization

208301 - Translational Science and Medicine

Rank

Assistant/Associate Professor

Position Summary

The University of Alabama's newly established Department of Translational Science and Medicine is seeking a dynamic and innovative faculty member with a passion for revolutionizing medicine. This is a unique opportunity to build a research program at the exciting intersection of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and quantum computing with a focus on drug discovery and development. Appointments to the faculty of The University of Alabama are based on the personnel requirements of the University’s academic programs and on the goal of achieving and maintaining excellence in its teaching, research, and service/academic citizenship activities.

Detailed Position Information

The Department of Translational Science and Medicine is looking for a creative and ambitious scientist to contribute to the department's growth by leveraging cutting‑edge computational methods. The ideal candidate will establish a vigorous research program that applies artificial intelligence, machine Learning and quantum computing to challenges in pharmacology, biomaterials, immuno-inflammatory diseases, and neurosciences.
To support this research, the faculty member will have access to the University of Alabama’s state‑of‑the‑art High-Performance Computing (HPC) cluster. This resource provides the computational power necessary for large-scale data analysis, complex simulations, and the development of next‑generation artificial intelligence and machine learning models.

• Developing and teaching courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
• Mentoring students and junior researchers.
• Securing extramural funding to support research.
• Publishing high-impact research.
• Collaborating with interdisciplinary teams across the university and with external partners.

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in both fundamental and applied research, with expertise in one or more of the following key areas:

• Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning for Drug Discovery: Designing and applying machine learning models to identify new drug targets, predicting drug efficacy and toxicity, and optimizing small molecules and biopharmaceutical design.
• Quantum Computing in Pharmacology: Using quantum mechanics and quantum computing to model complex molecular interactions and simulate biological systems with unprecedented accuracy.
• Computational Pharmacology: Expertise in Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, Toxicity (ADME-Tox) and Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetics (PBPK) modeling enhanced by AI/ML approaches.
• Translational Science: Bridging computational predictions with preclinical or clinical data in areas such as immuno-inflammatory diseases, and/or neurosciences.

Minimum Qualifications

A doctoral degree (Ph.D., M.D., or M.D./Ph.D.) in a relevant field such as computer science, computational chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences, biomedical engineering, or related disciplines.

Preferred Qualifications

1. A strong record of research achievements, including significant intellectual contributions and a history of securing extramural funding (or a clear potential for success for Assistant Professor candidates).
2. A commitment to teaching excellence and student mentorship, with experience in curriculum development for courses related to your expertise.

About the Division/College/School

The College of Community Health Sciences (CCHS) was founded in 1972 by William Willard, MD, author of the “Willard Report” and considered the “Father of Family Medicine,” with a mandate to train family physicians for Alabama, particularly its rural areas. The College also provides medical student education as the Tuscaloosa Regional Campus of the four-campus University of Alabama School of Medicine, based at UAB in Birmingham. The College’s mission focuses on improving the health of individuals and communities in Alabama and the region through leadership in medical education and primary care; the provision of high-quality, accessible health care services; and scholarship.

CCHS is sponsor of the UA Family Medicine Residency and seven fellowships for family physicians. The Residency, a 16-16-16 program now in its 45th year, is the second largest family medicine residency in the country. Of the more than 470 Residency graduates, 85% practice in the five-state area of the Southeast, with half in rural areas, and comprise 1 of 7 family physicians practicing in Alabama. Nearly 900 medical students have completed their clinical training at the College since 1974, entering Family Medicine and primary care careers at more than twice the national average.

The College’s nationally recognized Rural Pipeline Programs and the Institute for Rural Health Research, along with basic sciences, social sciences, and health professional faculty and resources on the UA campus and innumerable specialty and medical research faculty among the School of Medicine faculty, create a uniquely resource-rich environment for a medical educator. The College’s clinical enterprise also conducts 150,000 ambulatory visits and more than 10,000 admissions a year to a broad patient population, including UA faculty and staff and the general population of West Alabama.

For more information about the College, visit http://cchs.ua.edu

About the University

The University of Alabama is located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, named one of Travel + Leisure’s 25 Best College Towns and Cities in the U.S. As one of the nation’s premier universities, UA offers bachelor’s, master's and doctoral degrees in nearly 200 fields of study. With more than 1,400 acres of tree‑lined academic core campus and over 300 state‑of‑the‑art facilities, UA has been ranked among the most beautiful and most impressive college campuses in the South, in the state of Alabama and in the nation.

In Fall 2023, the Capstone set a new enrollment record with more than 39,000 students, including more than 8,200 in the freshman class. The current enrollment includes students from every county in Alabama, every state in the nation and 92 countries around the world. More than 1,100 National Merit Scholars are currently enrolled, making UA one of the largest enrolling institutions of the scholars in the country.

UA was recently recognized as a Top Producing Institution of Fulbright U.S. students for the seventh time in nine years, as well as a Top Producing Institution of Fulbright U.S. Scholars for the first time. UA is one of only 12 universities in the nation to receive both honors.

For reasons like this, the University made Forbes list of America’s Top Colleges for 2023 and Time magazine’s list of Top 50 Best Colleges for Future Leaders. It also made Princeton Review’s list of Top Value Colleges.

UA is also designated among the top doctoral research universities in the United States in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. One of the fastest growing major research institutions in the nation, UA saw a 21% increase in sponsored awards in the 2023 fiscal year.

Since 2015, UA has invested over $1.1 billion in the physical campus, adding more than 2.55 million gross square feet of space, over 150 new research-intensive faculty, signature research areas (e.g., “The Alabama Research Institutes”), and a growing number of partnerships with industry and with state and federal agencies.

The University employs nearly 2,100 faculty and over 4,500 staff, with 52 UA researchers included in the National Academy of Inventors. An additional 40 current faculty have received the NSF CAREER Award, the nation’s most prestigious recognition of top performing young scientists in disciplines ranging from nanoscience and engineering to biological sciences.

Background Investigation and EEO Statement

Background Investigation Statement: Prior to hiring, the final candidate(s) must successfully pass a pre-employment background investigation and information obtained from social media and other internet sources. A prior conviction reported as a result of the background investigation DOES NOT automatically disqualify a candidate from consideration for this position. A candidate with a prior conviction or negative behavioral red flags will receive an individualized review of the prior conviction or negative behavioral red flags before a hiring decision is made.

Equal Employment Opportunity: The University of Alabama is an Equal Employment/Equal Educational Opportunity Institution. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment or volunteer status without regard to any legally protected basis and will not be discriminated against because of their protected status. Applicants and employees of this institution are protected under Federal law from discrimination on several bases. More information is available in the EEOC’s Know Your Rights: Workplace (https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights6.12ScreenRdr.pdf) discrimination is illegal poster.

The University of Alabama affirms its longstanding commitment to institutional neutrality, free speech, and academic freedom.