Director, Animal Resource Program; Chief, Division of Comparative Medicine

Penn State College of Medicine (COM) is hiring a non-tenure line, faculty clinical veterinarian to serve as the Director, Animal Resource Program (ARP) and Chief, Division of Comparative Medicine. The Director/Chief provides leadership, strategic direction, and operational oversight for the institution's AAALAC-accredited animal resource program, while serving as the senior comparative medicine leader within the Department of Surgery.

This position is responsible for ensuring the highest standards of animal welfare, regulatory compliance, and research support, while advancing innovative, collaborative, and translational research programs. The Director/Chief leads a multidisciplinary team delivering veterinary care, husbandry, technical services, and research support across a complex biomedical research enterprise.

Key Responsibilities

This role provides overall leadership and management of the College of Medicine's animal resource program, representing the program internally and externally with regulatory agencies, accrediting bodies, and peer institutions while ensuring alignment with the research mission of the COM.

1. Regulatory compliance & accreditation

• Promote a culture of ethical research, scientific excellence, and animal welfare.

• Ensure the infrastructure, processes, and resources are in place to support adherence to institutional SOPs, policies, and guidelines, as well as compliance with local, state, and federal regulations and accreditation standards (USDA, OLAW/PHS Policy, AAALAC International), in partnership with the Attending Veterinarian (AV) and IACUC.

• Partner closely with the Institutional Official and IACUC to ensure ethical and humane animal use, including serving as a voting member of the IACUC to review research protocols.

• Ensure corrective actions are implemented when compliance deficiencies are identified, in coordination with appropriate governing bodies.

• Provides training and continuing education for voting IACUC members and for personnel involved with the care and use of animals, in collaboration withcompliance leadership.

• Lead AAALAC accreditation activities and site visits.

2. Veterinary & clinical program leadership

• Ensure the delivery of comprehensive veterinary care programs for research animals including:

• Preventive medicine and health surveillance programs;

• Surgical and perioperative services;

• Disease prevention, biosecurity, and colony management;

• Alignment with institutional and regulatory health standards.

• Support the implementation and consistent application of standards for anesthesia, analgesia, and humane endpoints.

• Ensure investigator access to expert consultation provided by the ARP veterinarians regarding:

• Animal model selection and refinement;

• Ensure appropriate systems, staffing, and on-call coverage are in place to support timely response to urgent and after-hours veterinary care needs.

• Ensure the program stays aligned with the latest developments in laboratory animal science and integrates advances into everyday practice.

• Provide back-up clinical care in the case of staffing constraints or other emergent situations.

3. Research collaboration and support

• Partner with faculty investigators to support high quality, ethical, and reproducible animal-based research.

• Oversee and ensure access to veterinary and technical expertise to:

• Support development of innovative models and translational approaches;

• Assist researchers in the preparation of IACUC protocols and grant submissions;

• Drive animal model development and optimization;

• Provide guidance on surgical planning and specialized procedures.

• Facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration across departments, centers, and biomedical core facilities.

• Contribute to grant development, program project initiatives, and institutional research growth.

• Ensure appropriate and methodologically up to date training and support programs are in place for faculty, research staff, and animal resource program staff.

4. Financial and operational leadership

• Partner closely with the Director, Business Operations to oversee the operational management of the ARP including:

• Long-range strategic planning

• Strategic budget development and performance management

• Cost recovery models and service level pricing

• Drive efficient stewardship of institutional resources while maintaining high-quality service delivery.

• Ensure organizational structures, staffing, and professional development resources support a high-performing comparative medicine research ecosystem.

• Lead workforce planning, recruitment, retention, and professional development of faculty and staff.

• Partner with facilities and grant leadership to pursue external resources to support strategic programmatic renewal and expansion including capital improvements and facilities modernization.

5. Academic leadership

• Serve as Chief, Division of Comparative Medicine within the Department of Surgery.

• Provide academic leadership for faculty within the division.

• Conduct annual faculty evaluations and mentor faculty toward promotion and career development, ensuring excellence in service, research, and teaching activities.

• Support faculty recruitment, appointment, career development and promotion processes.

• Collaborate with departmental and institutional leadership to integrate comparative medicine into translational and surgical research initiatives.

• Review, refine and support ACLAM residency training program.

The ARP is fully accredited by AAALAC, International. ARP supports approximately 270 research protocols involving animals, with monthly average rodent census of 6,100 cages. This is an on-site position, located in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Qualifications

Required

• DVM/VMD (or equivalent veterinary degree).

• Board certification in Laboratory Animal Medicine (ACLAM) or equivalent (e.g., ECLAM).

• Eligibility for veterinary licensure in Pennsylvania.

• Demonstrated leadership experience in a comparative medicine or laboratory animal program, preferably in an academic or research-intensive environment.

• Demonstrated experience in veterinary clinical and emergency care, and in vivo bio methodology training.

• Clinical experience with non-rodent animal research models, including the provision of pre- and post-operative care.

• Extensive knowledge of:

• Animal welfare regulations and accreditation standards;

• Research animal models and biomedical research support.

• Proven ability to lead complex teams, manage institutional risk, and drive strategic initiatives.

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.

Preferred

• 10 years of previous leadership and managerial experience in an academic research program using animal models.

• Prior experience with AAALAC accreditation and USDA inspections.

• Strong vision for advancing biomedical research in a rapidly evolving research landscape.

• Aptitude for technology solutions - i.e. animal EMR, inventory tracking system, etc.

Interested candidates must submit an online application at Penn State's Job Posting Board, and should upload the following application materials electronically: a letter of interest, CV or resume, and a list of three references with contact information.