Faculty Position - Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor at CUMC; Directo

The Department of Psychiatry at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center/New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI), is hiring a Clinical Veterinarian to serve as the Director of the Division of Comparative Medicine (DCM). This position involves responsibility for the entirety of DCM operations at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. This individual will lead a multi-disciplinary team managing the animal care facility and ensuring systems and processes meet the standards and regulations established by the institution, state and federal agencies, PHS policy and accreditation bodies promoting the humane treatment of animals.

The DCM Director works closely with research scientists and staff to ensure a collaborative approach to ensuring an outstanding veterinary care and research program.

The salary range for the role will be jointly covered by Columbia University and NYSPI.

• Animal Care: Provide comprehensive medical and surgical care to a diverse range of animal species (including rodents (i.e., rats and mice) and non-human primates), ensuring their health and well-being. This includes delivery of veterinary care through accurate diagnosis and treatment; developing and managing the clinical program for all surgical cases; creating pre, intra and post-operative care plans in consultation with investigators;
  
  and establishing anesthesia, analgesia, and euthanasia protocols for various laboratory animal species.
• Disease Prevention: Oversee programs to prevent the introduction and spread of disease in rodent colonies through sentinel-free infectious agent monitoring, strict vendor compliance, and the implementation of quarantine or rederivation protocols for animals from non-approved sources. This role ensures colony biosecurity by managing imports, responding to outbreaks, and maintaining alignment with institutional and regulatory health standards.
• Emergency Response: Address urgent and after-hours medical situations, providing timely interventions to manage acute health issues in animals.

• Collaborative Research: Engage with research scientists and staff in assisting with interdisciplinary research projects aimed at improving animal and human health. Collaborate with research teams on animal model development, surgical planning, bioimaging and data interpretation; attend laboratory research meetings as necessary to assist with model development and optimization, interpret clinical and experimental data, and promote regulatory compliance.
• Regulatory Compliance: Ensure that all research involving animals adheres to ethical principles and regulatory standards, promoting humane treatment and welfare. Provide guidance to investigators on IACUC protocol development and regulatory compliance; perform veterinary consultations on IACUC protocols; review animal use protocols and assist with facility inspections and programmatic evaluations; serve on the IACUC and oversee post approval monitoring and protocol compliance.
• Training: Develop training materials and conduct hands‑on training for staff and investigators; provide surgical, anesthesia and technical support to investigators through animal model development, study conduct and training; and conduct didactic training of animal care personnel and investigators in the appropriate care and use of laboratory animals.

• Teaching: Instruct DCM and research staff in clinical skills, animal care practices, and research methodologies.
• Curriculum Development: Contribute to the design and enhancement of educational programs including training modules, ensuring that course content remains current with advancements in veterinary medicine and laboratory animal science.
• Continuing
  
  Education:
  
  Stay abreast of the latest developments in veterinary science and integrate new knowledge into teaching and clinical practice.

• Compliance Oversight: Serve on Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) to review research protocols, ensuring ethical and humane use of animals in research. Work with the Facility Manager to oversee the maintenance and operation…