Career Center

Department: FAES | Center for Food Animal Health

Applications and nominations are invited for the position of an Assistant or Associate Professor in Food safety and antimicrobial resistance in the Center for Food Animal Health in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) and affiliated with the Department of Animal Sciences at The Ohio State University.

Description: This is a 9-month tenure-track position with 75% Research and 25% Extension, available in the Center for Food Animal Health (CFAH) in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) and affiliated with the Department of Animal Sciences at The Ohio State University. 

Responsibilities:

The Center for Disease Control reports annually thousands of hospitalizations due to Salmonella, Listeria, Campylobacter, Norovirus and E. coli infections. CFAH has a long history of contributing to our understanding of these enteric infections and their connection with food animal and fresh fruit and vegetable production systems. Antimicrobial resistance is also a closely related issue where further research is needed to provide scientific support for the appropriate use of and the reduction of antimicrobial usage.

Foodborne pathogens usually target the gastrointestinal tract and are influenced by the gut microbiota but also can be found largely in environmental reservoirs such as water, air and soil.  Pre- and post- harvest integrated research focused on microbial transmission between animal products, water, soil, air, and fresh produce, is needed for the development of safer animal nutrition strategies and the general improvement of safe fresh food products. Thus, the position involves collaboration with faculty in animal science, food science and technology, public health, plant pathology, and horticulture and crop science to solve these complex interrelated problems.

The Ohio State University strives to have a strong presence and expertise in these research areas, and we intend to fill that gap. Food should reach our dinner table free of pathogens and toxins. With this overarching goal in mind, the Food safety and antimicrobial resistance faculty member will expand and build upon our programmatic strengths, expertise, assets, and impact through research on existing and emerging food borne disease tracking from food animals that impact human health. The selected candidate will be expected to work in areas related to food safety and pathogen transmission, microbiome health, and antimicrobial resistance while also focusing on the human pathogens that are of concern to the state, country, and world. The successful candidate will join a highly interactive infectious disease research community within The Ohio State University that is an integral part of the College of Food Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and the University’s Infectious Disease Institute and Center of Microbiome Science. Furthermore, the successful candidate will be expected to work closely with field and industry veterinarians, state extension educators, and research colleagues in developing an independent Extension Program focused on animal health and farm management practices in the context of intestinal health and food safety and the role of farm animals and plants in the transmission of zoonotic and drug resistant pathogens.  The Extension program would also address the industry’s needs and concerns, support on-farm herd health and/or food safety programs and contribute to existing extension efforts through technical workshops involving the food animal industry. The successful candidate will be expected to maintain an extramurally funded research program that is collaborative and nationally recognized. It is an expectation for the candidate to be supportive of and engaged in all three mission areas of the Land Grant Institution (Research, Teaching and Extension). Faculty members have a shared responsibility to support and sustain the CFAES Principles of Community, convey good citizenship, and interact collegially.

The Center for Food Animal Health. The Center is a research-intensive unit in CFAES, and it is recognized as a global leader in research on infectious diseases of food producing animals using One Health approaches to solve critical and emerging problems associated with production limiting diseases of food animals, pathogens transmissible between animals and people and food safety. The center has a modern office/laboratory building and animal facilities including a state-of-the-art BSL-3-Ag facility. The animal facilities and several BSL2 animal facilities also include a laboratory for the procurement and maintenance of germ-free animals, SPF poultry and poultry infectious disease facilities. In addition, a Laboratory Animal facility is available. The Center supports a growing number of faculty, staff, graduate students, and research scholars. Center Faculty are tenured through the Department of Animal Sciences. Graduate student degree programs are awarded through the Department of Animal Sciences or other CFAES or College of Veterinary Medicine affiliated Departments. Please refer to - https://cfah.osu.edu/about-ushttps://ansci.osu.edu/home for more information about CFAH.

The Department of Animal Sciences. Housed within the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, the Department provides undergraduate and graduate students formal and informal learning opportunities, both in and out of the classroom, to guide students in achieving their goals and become the next generation of industry and academic leaders. Undergraduate students can choose from 7 Animal Sciences minors and 3 major specializations (including specializations in Animal Biosciences, Animal Industries, and Veterinary Technology). The Department offers a robust graduate program that awards MS and PhD degrees. There are currently 45 graduate students and 530 undergraduates enrolled in departmental majors. Research, Extension and education programs in the Department aim to increase the economic profitability of agricultural animals and the quality of their products, improve animal welfare and food animal health, lessen the environmental impact of production animal systems, and foster human-animal relationships. The Department has access to multiple animal facilities comprising of beef, equine, dairy, small ruminants (sheep and goats), swine, and poultry. The Department employs 40 faculty and 85 staff members working at the CFAES Columbus and Wooster campuses, and research centers statewide.  Additional information is available at the Department’s website, https://ansci.osu.edu/.

Additional Resources. CFAES Wooster campus maintains herds and flocks of major food-producing animals for experimental studies. Excellent opportunities are available for collaboration with food, veterinary, medical, animal and plant scientists on the Wooster and Columbus campuses.  These include interactions with the University’s Infectious Disease Institute and Center of Microbiome Science and service core facilities that support infectious disease research and bioinformatics.

Location:

This position will be located on the CFAES Wooster Campus (https://wooster.osu.edu/home). Wooster was recognized as a 2017 Money Magazine Best Places to Live and one of 2017-2018 Ohio’s Best Hometowns by Ohio magazine. Serving as the county seat, the Wooster community boasts an excellent school system, a vibrant downtown, three colleges, a world-class community-owned hospital and a branch of the Cleveland Clinic. A portfolio of growing businesses serving the global economy, and a network of volunteers and organizations dedicated to helping individuals succeed. Nestled in rolling farmland and natural scenery, CFAES Wooster Campus is renowned for its Secrest Arboretum (https://secrest.osu.edu/). Scenic Mohican State Park and historic Malabar Farm are among other nearby attractions and the large cities of Columbus, Cleveland, and Akron/Canton are within easy driving distance. More information about living and working in Wooster can be found at woosteroh.com.

Commitment to Diversity:

The Ohio State University is committed to establishing a culturally and intellectually diverse environment; and encouraging all members of our learning community to reach their full potential. We are responsive to dual-career families and strongly promote work-life balance to support our community members through a suite of institutionalized policies. Our college’s Principles of Community https://brand.cfaes.ohio-state.edu/campaigns/principles-community affirms our conviction that racism has no place in CFAES. We are an NSF Advance Institution and a member of the Ohio/Western Pennsylvania/West Virginia Higher Education Recruitment Consortium.

Salary:

Competitive and commensurate with education and experience.

Qualifications:

Applicants should have a PhD and DVM or equivalent degrees. Certification or eligibility for certification by the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists or the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine is desirable. Expertise and experience in microbiology, antimicrobial resistance, epidemiology and microbiome science is important for the selected candidate to positively impact the food industry and capitalize on federal and industry funding. Candidates at the rank of Assistant Professor should have training, experience, excellent scholarship, and demonstrated evidence of the likelihood of obtaining and maintaining an independently funded and sustainable research program. Candidates at the rank of Associate Professor should have demonstrated research productivity and evidence of an independently funded and sustainable research program, as well as experience working with interdisciplinary research teams. Applicants must possess strong interpersonal and communication skills with a desire to commit to outreach education. Candidates should have interest in programmatic synergy with existing members of The Ohio State faculty.

Application Procedure:

Review of applications will begin March 1 and continue until a qualified candidate is identified. Nominations of qualified individuals are invited at any time.  Qualified persons are requested to submit the following: 1) a letter of intent stating professional goals and interests; 2) a statement of the applicant’s training, experience, and animal health related qualifications; 3) a complete curriculum vitae; 4) a statement of approaches and experience working with or mentoring members of underrepresented groups; and 5) names, addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses, of three references. Initial nominations and inquiries will be kept confidential.

Application and materials should be submitted to (PDF format): 

Questions should be directed to:

Anastasia N. Vlasova (Search committee chair) vlasova.1@osu.edu

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, HIV/AIDS status, military status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.