Vanderbilt Biomedical Engineering seeks to recruit an Assistant Professor whose scholarship and translational program advance autonomous, sensor-rich, and decision-support-enabled treatment systems for trauma and procedural care in austere, contested, and remote-care environments. The target candidate will develop technologies that extend life-saving intervention capability when expert personnel, infrastructure, and evacuation are limited, conditions central to Large-Scale Combat Operations, Prolonged Casualty Care, and future lunar/exploration-class space missions. Particular emphasis is placed on systems that assess, predict, and actively manage patient physiological status during injury, resuscitation, stabilization, and transport. These challenges are increasingly relevant to distributed national security scenarios and emerging space-health applications, where medical expertise, resources, communications, and evacuation capabilities may all be constrained.
The search will prioritize candidates working at the intersection of medical robotics, soft robotic and advanced actuation technologies for medical applications, autonomous therapeutic delivery systems, autonomy and human-machine teaming, intelligent physiological sensing and monitoring, computational physiology, AI-enabled guidance and decision support, adaptive treatment systems, and novel treatment modality end-effectors, with clear pathways to prototypes, validation, and translation.
Representative focus areas could include: (1) autonomous or semi-autonomous robotic assistance for casualty stabilization and damage-control procedures; (2) soft robotic, compliant, and bioinspired systems for diagnostic, therapeutic, or interventional applications; (3) mixed and augmented reality for guidance, telepresence, and just-in-time training; (4) sensor fusion, physiological-state estimation, and predictive monitoring for adaptive treatment and resuscitation; (5) closed-loop therapeutic systems that autonomously adjust interventions based on real-time physiological feedback; (6) automated treatments and therapeutic systems for austere, contested, remote, or spaceflight conditions; (7) robust algorithms for operations under limited imaging, uncertain anatomy, physiologic instability, or degraded communications; and (8) deployable platforms engineered for size, weight, power, maintainability, and field reliability.
Particularly attractive candidates will develop technologies that advance either intelligent autonomous care systems, novel intervention and therapeutic delivery technologies, or the integration of both approaches, enabling autonomous or semi-autonomous management of hemorrhage, shock, burn and traumatic injury, physiological instability, and other acute conditions encountered when expert clinical care is unavailable. Successful candidates will view the patient as an integral component of the engineered system and develop approaches that explicitly incorporate physiological response, treatment efficacy, and patient-specific adaptation into the design of autonomous and semi-autonomous care technologies.
This position is designed to collaborate directly with Vanderbilt's established and rapidly growing ecosystem for operational medicine, autonomy, and frontier health systems. The new faculty member will have immediate engagement opportunities with VU/VUMC collaborators and operational partners, including designated relationships with VUMC Emergency Medicine, the Center for Emergency Care Research and Innovation (CERI), and the Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering (VISE). The candidate will also have opportunities to engage with Vanderbilt's LUNAR Labs Initiative, which is advancing technologies and operational concepts for sustained human presence in space and other extreme environments.
In addition, Vanderbilt's long-standing partnership with Fort Campbell and the 101st Airborne Division provides a rare "living laboratory" for co-design, field evaluation, and doctrine-relevant translation, complemented by ties to the Joint Trauma System and a broader network of operational stakeholders and subject-matter experts. Together, these partnerships create a unique environment for developing next-generation technologies capable of delivering trauma, emergency, and procedural care across defense, disaster-response, rural, and space-exploration settings.
Candidates with added research concentrations that complement the department's existing strengths in biophotonics, biomedical imaging, medical devices and interventional systems, constrained resources and microfluidic diagnostics, and neural engineering, therapeutic bioengineering are also of interest.
U.S. citizenship and eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance are desirable qualifications that may facilitate participation in certain federally sponsored research programs, including projects supported by DARPA and the Department of Defense. These qualifications will be considered positively.
Applicants must demonstrate the ability to develop a vibrant, externally funded research program, along with an equal commitment to outstanding teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. VUBME exists at both the scientific and geographic boundary of Vanderbilt’s engineering and clinical departments of its renowned medical center, making it an ideal location for engineering research at the interface of technology and medicine. Ideal candidates should possess: a doctorate degree in biomedical engineering or closely related fields of science and engineering, a record of scholarly and research achievement appropriate for their current level, strong record of high-impact research, a commitment to high-quality instruction in biomedical engineering and interest in advancing education programs at both undergraduate and graduate levels, an ability to lead a research program with a dedication to inclusive community building, and an interest in collaboration across engineering and with basic science and clinical disciplines.
Application materials must include: 1) cover letter, 2) CV, 3) statement of research interests (of particular import is their goals and collaborative possibilities across Vanderbilt), 4) a statement of teaching philosophy highlighting potential synergies within the BME department, such as new courses, and 5) the names and contact information of at least three professional references. Review will begin upon receipt, and applications received by December 15, 2026 will receive full consideration. Please address questions to the email: VUBMESearch@vanderbilt.edu (also note, this email will only be monitored by the chair of the department, and the chair of the search to maintain confidentiality).
Vanderbilt University shall abide by the requirements of 41 CFR §§ 60-1.4(a), 60-300.5(a) and 60-741.5(a). These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Moreover, these regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors provide equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, protected veteran status or disability.
