Director for ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center

Arizona State University (ASU) seeks an inaugural director to lead the ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center (NDRC) at the Biodesign Institute. The NDRC is a partnerhship between ASU and Phoenix-based Banner Health that capitalizes on Banner’s internationally recognized programs in Alzheimer’s disease research and patient care and ASU’s prominence as a leading world-class research university. The NDRC Center Director will be a global leader in basic and translational neuroscience research with the proven ability to lead, recruit, and motivate faculty, scientists, and staff.

The Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center is focused on the aggressive pursuit of new battleground tactics in the war against Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, including multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Its reseachers will help galvanize the understanding of disease mechanisms and genetic risk factors, the discovery of targets at which to aim promising

new treatments and assays, and the discovery and evaluation of promising new treatments for these diseases. The NDRC is expected to become one of the largest and most impactful neuroscience research centers in the world.

One of the nation’s top public universities and ranked #1 in Innovation by U.S. News & World Report, ASU is undertaking a bold reinvention of higher education as the New American University. Under the visionary leadership of President Michael Crow, ASU has developed numerous new programs and units that defy and bridge disciplinary boundaries to enable the exploration and discovery of new knowledge, while developing practical solutions to serve Arizona and the world at large. ASU has strong and simultaneous commitments to educational access, research, and teaching excellence and assumes significant responsibility for the cultural, social and economic vitality of its surrounding communities in the metropolitan Phoenix region and beyond.

The Opportunity

Mission: The Biodesign Institute at ASU delivers the future of nature-inspired scientific innovation today for the betterment of human health, community safety and global sustainability.

The Biodesign Institute represents Arizona’s largest single investment in bioscience research infrastructure. As a premier research and technology-development enterprise, the Biodesign Institute delivers innovative solutions in healthcare delivery, environmental protection and sustainability, and national biosecurity. Created on the premise that scientists can overcome complex societal issuess by re-imagining the “design rules” found in nature, the Institute’s researchers are addressing an expansive array of global challenges by creating “bioinspired” solutions, including new vaccine discovery and delivery; early detection and treatment of cancer and infectious diseases; techniques for detecting and removing contaminants from air and water, and the application of nanotechnology for biomedicine and electronics.

The Biodesign Institute’s goals include expanding its research enterprise, delivering high-caliber education and training opportunities, deploying and commercializing technologies, and increasing revenue generation to ensure long-term sustainability. This flagship institute is a signature activity of ASU and a catalyst for use-inspired research and economic impact in the greater Phoenix area and beyond.

A generous $25 million gift to the Biodesign Institute has created the Charlene and J. Orin Edson Initiative for Dementia Care and Solutions. The gift will continue to fuel the institute’s two-pronged research approach to tackling dementia: 1) to identify the causes and work toward a cure; and 2) to develop tools for managing the disease. It will also help to secure a program director and postdoctoral research fellows, supply seed funding for new experimental projects and establish an annual meeting to bring leading international experts in the field to ASU for discussion and collaboration.

The Institute

Since its inception in 2003, the Biodesign Institute has attracted more than $740 million in external funding from competitive grant awards and philanthropic and industry sources. Working in an entrepreneurial culture, its researchers have generated 803 invention disclosures and patents and fostered more than 30 spinout companies. In 2009, the Institute won Arizona’s Excellence in Economic Development Award for its innovative contributions to the state’s economic growth. For more information about the Biodesign Institute, visit https://biodesign.asu.edu

• Comprises 16 research centers led by world-renowned faculty, including a Nobel Laureate and members of the National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering, and National Academy of Inventors;

• Occupies over 550,000 square feet of state-of-the-art research space in three research buildings;

• Garners support from regional, state and national agencies, laboratories, corporations, medical facilities, academic institutions and civic organizations.

Biodesign Institute

Joshua LaBaer is one of the nation’s foremost investigators in the rapidly expanding field of personalized diagnostics. His efforts focus on the discovery and validation of biomarkers — unique molecular fingerprints of disease — which can provide early warning for those at risk of major illnesses, including cancer and diabetes. In 2017, LaBaer was appointed as the executive director of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. There he guides talented researchers, who are pioneering a dynamic new academic research model that embodies a hub for 21st century innovation.

Formerly founder and director of the Harvard Institute of Proteomics, LaBaer was recruited to the Biodesign Institute as the first Piper Chair in Personalized Medicine in 2009. The Biodesign Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics has a highly multidisciplinary staff of molecular biologists, cell biologists, biochemists, software engineers, database specialists, bioinformaticists, biostatisticians, and automation engineers. Using new high-throughput technologies, LaBaer’s team advanced the discipline of functional proteomics, which seeks to understand the roles of all the proteins made in the human body. His group invented a novel protein microarray technology, Nucleic Acid Programmable Protein Array, which has been used widely for biomedical research, such as the discovery of biomarkers for the detection or patient stratification of various cancers, autoimmune diseases, and infectious diseases, including autoantibody biomarkers used in the first CLIA-certified blood test for breast cancer.

LaBaer earned his medical degree and a doctorate in biochemistry and biophysics, from the University of California, San Francisco in 1990. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 1992 and completed a clinical fellowship in medical oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 1995.

LaBaer is an associate editor for the Journal of Proteome Research, a member of the board of directors for the American Type Culture Collection and is a member of the scientific advisory boards for the Provista Dx, iNanoBio and the Dorothy Foundation. He also was a recent member of the National Cancer Institute’s Board of Scientific Advisors, is chair of the National Cancer Institute Early Detection Research Network Steering Committee and is a founding member and has served as president of the U.S. Human Proteome Organization.

Executive Director, Biodesign Institute

Joshua L. LaBaer, MD, PhD

In 2015, ASU and Banner Health entered into a strategic partnership whereby very substantial resources, in the form of funding, faculty lines and significant space, were committed to establish and grow a leading neuroscience center. The ASU-Banner Neuroscience Initiative will faciliate collaboration on clinical, translational and basic research to advance the scientific and medical fight against Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases and to make meaningful contributions to the understanding and promotion of healthy aging. The Initiative bridges the gap between discovery and delivery of health care to affected populations. Its underlying intention is to discover and deliver drugs and other therapies that will slow and eventually stop the dementia and movement disorders epidemic that afflicts ever-increasing numbers of patients and their families, threatening to bankrupt our healthcare system.

The Initiative comprises two major components, one clinical and one basic and translational. The clinical component is led by Banner Health and housed at the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, the Banner Sun Health Research Institute, and the Banner University Medical Center. The agreement is non-exclusive, and a number of outstanding partners, including the Mayo Clinic, Barrow Neurological Institute, Dignity Health, and the University of Arizona College of Medicine are all participating. Combined, these partners treat thousands of patients each year presenting with all manner of neurodegenerative conditions. These clinical partners, many of whom will have joint appointments at ASU in the NDRC, are leaders in the diagnosis

and treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease (PD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), in addition to Alzheimer’s. The Banner Alzheimer’s Institute is renowned for imaging biomarkers and the extraordinarily early detection of Alzheimer’s. The Brain and Body Donation Program at Banner Sun Health Research Institute is one of the largest and best of its kind, with the world’s shortest time from death to organ (brain and other) preservation.

The basic and translational research component of the Initiative, the Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center, is part of ASU’s Biodesign Institute located on the University’s Tempe campus. The NDRC will serve to nucleate world-class basic and translational research addressing challenges in the etiology, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. The NDRC will be highly integrated with the outstanding neuroscience researchers already on the ASU faculty, existing research enterprises in informatics, bioimaging and aging at ASU, the clinical and brain imaging research programs at the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, and the clinical research and brain-and-body donation programs at Banner Sun Health Research Institute. For more information regarding the Neurodegenerative Disease Center, visit https://biodesign.asu.edu/neurodegenerative-disease.

ASU-Banner Neuroscience Initiative

Dr. Reiman is Executive Director of the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, Chief Executive Officer of Banner Research, University Professor of Neuroscience at Arizona State University (ASU), Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Arizona, Clinical Director of Neurogenomics at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), and Director of the Arizona Alzheimer’s Consortium. He is also interim Director of the ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Research Center (NDRC).

He received his undergraduate and medical education at Duke University and his Psychiatry Residency Training at Duke and Washington University, and launched his career in brain imaging research under the mentorship of Marcus Raichle at Washington University in St. Louis. He has played leadership roles in brain imaging, brain mapping, and genomics research, the unusually early detection and tracking of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and the accelerated evaluation of Alzheimer’s prevention therapies. More recently he has become actively involved in the development and use of blood-based Biomarkers and the discovery of APOE-related disease

mechanisms and treatments. He has also sought to advance new models of biomedical research collaboration and dementia care.

Dr. Reiman and his Banner Alzheimer’s Institute colleagues established the Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative (API) to launch a new era in Alzheimer’s prevention research. API includes public-private partnerships, prevention trials and biomarker development programs in cognitively unimpaired persons at high genetic and/or biomarker risk for AD, unusually large registries and innovative programs to support enrollment in these and other studies, precedent-setting trial data and biological sample sharing agreements, and other efforts to help find and support the approval, affordability and availability of prevention therapies as soon as possible.

Dr. Reiman is an author of about 500 publications, a principal investigator of six current NIH grants, and a member of the National Advisory Council on Aging (NIA Council). He is a recipient of the Potamkin Prize for his pioneering contributions to the study of preclinical AD and the accelerated evaluation of AD prevention therapies.

Executive Director, Banner Alzheimer’s InstituteChief Executive Officer, Banner Research

Eric Reiman, MD

Director, Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center

Working with Biodesign and ASU leadership, NDRC faculty, clinical partners and collaborators, and other allied constituents, the Director, Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center will:

• Lead, grow and direct the NDRC;

• Provide administrative and managerial leadership for the NDRC;

• Define the vision and mission of the NDRC;

• Define a communications and marketing strategy for the NDRC;

• Play a lead role in recruiting additional faculty to the NDRC and ASU;

• Mentor junior faculty;

• Solidify and enlarge the collaborative neuroscience research network in the region and beyond;

• Identify, pursue, win, and execute grants and contracts;

• Create a business model for the center that moves it toward sustainability and self-sufficiency;

• Pursue intellectual property based on research discoveries;

• Translate discoveries to clinical application;

• Interface with academic units to expand and diversify the neuroscience-related curricula.

The Director, NDRC will lead, conceptualize, design, and continue to build the NDRC. ASU seeks a global leader in basic and translational neurobiology or genetics, and it has allocated sufficient resources to ensure global prominence in the field. The Director may specialize in any of the leading causes of neurodegeneration (including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS and FTD), with senior researchers to be recruited. The NDRC fosters an academic environment for training the next generation of scientific leaders in new, state-of-the-art laboratories (10,000+ sq.ft.) comprising nearly half the floor of a brand new building opened in 2018.

The NDRC director will report directly to the Executive Director of the Biodesign Institute and work closely with the Executive Director of the ASU-Banner Neuroscience Initiative. As part of the Biodesign Institute, the Director, NDRC and faculty will have access to valuable research facilities and best-in-class support and infrastructure for advancing their research programs.

Major Responsibilities

ASU seeks a Director, Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center with the following qualifications and professional experiences:

• An active lab and grant portfolio in basic or translational research

• Demonstrable experience building a research group, center or institute

• Recognized global leadership in neurobiology or genetics

• Experience recruiting outstanding faculty members to a Research I University environment

• Success in translating research discoveries to the marketplace and clinic

• Ph.D. in neuroscience, genetics or related field or M.D. with deep research experience

• Five plus years of experience in research leadership and management within a research enterprise of significant scope and size and a distinguished record that merits national/international credibility in research

• An established neuroscience research program

• OR any equivalent combination of education and experience from which comparable knowledge, skills and abilities have been attained.

Required Qualifications

Desired Qualifications

Qualifications and Desired Attributes

Led by President Michael Crow, Arizona State University is a top-tier, Research I public university, 119,951 full and part-time students enrolled for fall 2019 on five metropolitan-Phoenix campuses. Its research, teaching and community-oriented programs are central to the emergence of one of the fastest growing counties in the country.

For the fifth year in a row, Arizona State University was ranked the #1 Most Innovative School by U.S. News and World Report. ASU has developed a bold new model for the American research university with the following charter: A comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed; advancing research and discovery of public value; and assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural, and overall health of the communities it serves.

Eight design aspirations guide the ongoing evolution of ASU. These institutional objectives are integrated in innovative ways throughout the University to achieve excellence, access and impact.

The ASU faculty is at the forefront nationally in advancing research and discovery. The University’s more than 3,400 faculty members inspire new ways of thinking, innovating and solving problems socially, culturally and economically in the region and in the international community. ASU has doubled its research funding and been recognized as one of the fastest-growing research universities in the nation over the past 10 years. ASU reported $640 million in research expenditures in 2019, up from $618 million the prior year.

• 5 MacArthur fellows

• 5 Nobel laureates

• 7 Pulitzer Prize winners

• 9 National Academy of Engineering members

• 24 American Academy of Arts and Sciences members

• 23 National Academy of Science members

• 37 Guggenheim fellows

• 143 National Endowment for the Humanities fellows

• 250 Fulbright American Scholars

• Leverage Our Place

• Enable Student Success

• Transform Society

• Fuse Intellectual Disciplines

• Value Entrepreneurship

• Be Socially Embedded

• Conduct Use-Inspired Research

• Engage Globally

Arizona State University

One of the fastest growing regions in the nation, Greater Phoenix, which includes the cities of Tempe, Mesa, Scottsdale and Goodyear, and has a population of nearly 4.5 million.

Cost of LivingGreater Phoenix offers the diverse amenities of a major metropolitan region without the high cost of living. As one of the most dynamic and rapidly growing regions in the nation, living and working here is both exciting and affordable.

Things to DoGreater Phoenix offers an array of amenities and attractions expected of bustling urban and suburban regions. From fine arts to major sporting events, outdoor activities and unique dining, the region offers something for everyone.

Low Tax PositionLow personal income taxes and low effective property tax rates offer affordability and opportunities for everyone to thrive.

For more information about Phoenix and Tempe, visit www.visitphoenix.com and www.tempe.gov.

Arizona State University is deeply committed to positioning itself as one of the great new American universities by seeking to build excellence, enhance access and have a positive impact on its community, state, nation and the world. To do that requires ASU faculty and staff to reflect the intellectual, ethnic and cultural diversity of our nation and the world at large so that students learn from the broadest perspectives, and we engage in the advancement of knowledge with the most inclusive understanding possible of the issues we are addressing through our scholarly activities. Diversity and inclusion are integral to ASU’s commitment to excellence in research, engagement, and education.

Candidates who have demonstrated experience in fostering an inclusive environment and incorporating diverse perspectives in research are strongly encouraged to apply.

Greater Phoenix

Diversity and Inclusion

Applications, Nominations and Expressions of Interest

AGB Search is pleased to assist ASU with this important search.

Nominations and expressions of interest are encouraged. Please direct them to: ASUDirectorNDRC@agbsearch.com or to the AGB search consultants listed below.

ASU will begin review of applications immediately and continue until an appointment is made. Application materials should include the following:

• Curriculum Vitae

• A letter describing your interest in and qualifications for the Director, Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center position

• A research vision statement for position relative to the NDRC (not to exceed two pages)

• Names and full contact information for four references (references will not be contacted without prior approval)

Complete application materials should be sent electronically (Adobe PDF or Microsoft Word) to ASUDirectorNDRC@agbsearch.com

Arizona State University is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor and an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other basis protected by law. Employment may be contingent upon successful passing of background and fingerprint checks.

Kimberly Templeton, J.D., Principalkimberly.templeton@agbsearch.com O: (202) 776.0820 / C: (540) 761.9494

Rod McDavis, Ph.D., Managing Principalrod.mcdavis@agbsearch.com O: (202) 776.0854

AGB Search – NDRC Consultant Team

Director for ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center