Date Posted:March 1, 2024

At the intersection of innovative education, cutting-edge research, and community outreach lies Simon Fraser University (SFU), Canada’s top-ranked comprehensive university. With three campuses located in beautiful British Columbia’s largest municipalities – Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey – our students, faculty and staff are privileged to live, work and play on the traditional unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), q̓íc̓əy̓ (Katzie), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), Qayqayt, Kwantlen, Semiahmoo and Tsawwassen Peoples.

Consistently ranked as one of Canada’s top employers, SFU is an institution whose strength is based on our shared commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion, and the pursuit of decolonization, indigenization and reconciliation. Diversity is an underlying principle of our Strategic Vision, which pledges SFU to foster a culture of inclusion and mutual respect, celebrating the diversity reflected among its students, faculty, staff and our community.

The Opportunity

The Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) at SFU invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position and Tier 2 Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Immunology with an anticipated start date of Spring 2025 or later. This position is contingent upon the applicant receiving a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair prior to being appointed to a tenure-track faculty position at SFU.

This Tier 2 CRC appointment opportunity is intended for exceptional emerging scholars in the field of Immunology, at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor (or those who possess the necessary qualifications to be appointed at these levels). Normally, the candidate must have been an active researcher in their field for fewer than 10 years at the time of CRC nomination. Applicants may still be eligible when more than 10 years from their highest degree (and where career breaks exist such as parental, extended sick leave, clinical training, or research delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, etc.) may have their eligibility for a Tier 2 CRC assessed through the program’s Tier 2 justification process; please see the CRC website for eligibility details. The candidate’s research area should primarily align with the mandate of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) as outlined in the Guidelines for Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency.

The faculty of health sciences

FHS was created in 2005 with a mission to improve the health of individuals and populations and to reduce health inequities through excellence in interdisciplinary research and education, in partnership with local, national and global communities and with a commitment to social justice. FHS is committed to improving our understanding of racism as an independent and fundamental determinant of health.

The successful candidate will be supported by collegial interdisciplinary faculty who employ a range of approaches to understand complex biological and societal relationships that contribute to health. The successful candidate will join a diverse and dynamic team of more than 50 multidisciplinary faculty members and will have the opportunity to engage with and teach outstanding students in the PhD, MSc, MPH and BA/BSc programs.

FHS is committed to creating an inclusive educational environment with supportive student-focused mentorship and learning. We maintain collaborative agreements and partnerships with the BC government, regional health authorities, research centres, and provincial, national and international health and research agencies. Our community engaged research and teaching is exciting, inclusive, and at the cutting edge of interdisciplinary work in health and health equity. Faculty members actively collaborate to develop interdisciplinary research initiatives in six Research Challenge Areas and three cross-cutting Core Themes.

the successful applicant

We are searching for an individual of outstanding promise who will contribute to the diversity and excellence of scholars at SFU. The candidate will be expected to maintain an outstanding program of research and a strong record of grant funding within the broad field of Immunology. Knowledge mobilization to the scholarly community, professional groups, the general public, and other stakeholders, as appropriate, is also expected. The candidate must hold a PhD or equivalent doctoral degree and have a proven ability to conduct innovative research. The candidate will show a strong commitment to undergraduate and graduate teaching and will be expected to contribute to teaching and mentorship in Immunology at all levels. The successful candidate will also demonstrate a strong commitment to the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion, consistent with SFU’s active leadership in this area.

We encourage applications from candidates studying any aspect of Immunology that complements current research in FHS and other related programs at SFU. Existing areas of research strength at SFU include infectious diseases immunology, vaccinology, immunogenomics, transplantation immunology, cancer immunology/immunotherapy and immunology related to non-communicable diseases of the cardiovascular system. Emerging areas of research include interdisciplinary immunology related to developmental biology and ageing, neurobiology, environmental biology, Indigenous health and global health. SFU houses outstanding core facilities to support the research of the successful candidate. We particularly encourage applications from investigators who will benefit from access to SFU’s biocontainment level 3 laboratory, flow cytometry and cell sorting facility, confocal and super-resolution microscopy facility, animal research centre or supercomputing infrastructure. Building upon SFU’s strong partnerships with regional hospitals and health authorities (including Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health, Provincial Health Services and First Nations Health), applications that incorporate clinical or translational research objectives will be considered favorably.