Career Center

Opportunity:  The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) is truly excited to establish a new Center for Sustainability, Health and the Environment (SHE Center) in the Institute for Health & Equity. The preliminary mission of the SHE Center is to be a distinguished leader and innovator in advocacy, community engagement, medical and graduate education, clinical collaboration, and research to sustain a healthy and equitable environment, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and resiliently adapt to climate challenge. Our preliminary vision is to pioneer environmentally sustainable paths to a healthier world. With collaborating partners, the founding Director will have the opportunity to revise and formalize the SHE Center mission and vision and to develop strategic priorities and goals. The SHE Center will collaborate across MCW departments, centers, and institutes as well as with health care system partners, government agencies, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, and businesses locally, nationally and globally to advance its mission. 

Position Summary

Reporting Relationships

• The SHE Center Director will report to the Director of the Institute for Health and Equity (IHE) John Meurer, MD, MBA, who in turn reports to the Dean of the School of Medicine, Provost and Executive Vice President Joseph Kerschner, MD
• The SHE Center Director will recruit and hire the following direct reports: two full-time faculty, a senior program coordinator (eligible for promotion to manager in 1-2 years), and biostatistics or bioinformatics staff; an administrative assistant will report to the coordinator/manager. We expect additional substantial Center growth of personnel with philanthropic investments and partnerships within MCW.

Primary functions and responsibilities of the SHE Center Director

• The Director will be the strategic leader of the SHE Center. They will be a non-voting member at Executive Committee of the Faculty.
• The SHE Center Director will have a faculty appointment in an appropriate rank and path in the Medical College of Wisconsin School of Medicine and their primary faculty appointment in the IHE.
• The Director will partner and advocate for policy and systems changes to advance environmental sustainability and health with many key stakeholders including: students (e.g., Medical Students for a Sustainable Future); health care system affiliates (namely Froedtert Health, Children’s Wisconsin, and Milwaukee Regional Medical Center); other academic institutions (e.g., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Great Lakes Water Institute); local, state and federal government departments and agencies; local communities (e.g., the ThriveOn Collaborative); state advocates (e.g., Wisconsin Professionals for Climate Action); and national organizations (e.g., the Association of American Medical Colleges, National Academy of Medicine, and Practice Greenhealth).
• The SHE Center Director will contribute to MCW and educational innovations including a seminar series to advance the mission. In addition, the Director will work with the Curriculum and Evaluation Committee in the School of Medicine to ensure that the principles, mission and vision of the Center are exemplified in the educational offerings and for our medical students. Also, the Director will be a consultant to leaders in Graduate Medical Education who may wish to implement specific educational objectives in their programs. The Director, more broadly, will be a consultant across MCW’s Health Science University to assist the other deans and educational leaders as they prepare educational materials in this arena as well.
• The Director will lead, collaborate with, and mentor others in developing grant proposals, implementing research projects, writing publications, and giving presentations to advance the mission and related scientific fields.
• The Director will cultivate philanthropic relationships to grow and sustain the SHE Center.

The Institute for Health & Equity (IHE) has an annual budget of more than $12 million including NIH grants and subcontracts, projects funded by the MCW Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin endowment, major institutional support, other endowments, affiliate health care system contracts, and consulting services. IHE employs 150 faculty, staff, and PhD students active in biostatistics, epidemiology, social sciences, bioethics, medical humanities, public and community health, genetic counseling, and precision medicine. IHE leads 9 education programs based in the Graduate School and has faculty who direct courses in the Medical School. IHE is active in community engagement at the local, state, national and global levels.

The Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin (F&MCW) regional health network is a partnership between Froedtert Health and MCW supporting a shared mission of patient care, innovation, medical research, and education. The health network operates eastern Wisconsin's only academic medical center and adult Level I Trauma Center at Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee, an internationally recognized training, and research center engaged in thousands of clinical trials and studies. The F&MCW health network, which includes 11 hospital locations, more than 2,000 physicians and more than 45 health centers and clinics, draws patients from throughout the Midwest and the nation. In our most recent fiscal year, outpatient visits were nearly 1.5 million, inpatient admissions to our hospitals were 55,085 and visits to our network physicians exceed 1.1 million.

About Milwaukee

Located on the west side of beautiful Lake Michigan in Wisconsin, Milwaukee County is the population and cultural hub of a metro region of 1.5 million. Living in Milwaukee offers residents an urban/suburban mix feel, relatively affordable housing, a major airport, regular AMTRAK train service, unique restaurants and bars, and a rich cultural scene including theater, symphony, opera, ballet, popular music, a famous art museum, well-regarded higher education - not to mention a gorgeous setting on Lake Michigan with many beautiful parks.

To Apply

Application review will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Nominations and applications, including current curriculum vitae and a cover letter stating qualifications and reasons for interest in the role, may be submitted to Jennifer Foley at jefoley@mcw.edu.

Candidate Qualifications/Requirements

• Qualifications: PhD or MD with expertise in environmental health, epidemiology, social sciences, and/or bioethics, or similar disciplines
• Experiences in systems change and government policy advocacy, especially to advance environmental sustainability; experiences in grant writing and publications, especially in the area of environmental sustainability
• Skills and behaviors (adapted from ASU Principled Innovation): identify and acknowledge fundamental values; use ethical decision making; understand culture and context; engage multiple and diverse perspectives; be an informed systems thinker; reflect critically and compassionately; design creative solutions; navigate uncertainty and mitigate consequences