Breast, Breast Program Director - Endowed Chair

The Wake Forest Comprehensive Cancer Center, an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and a key academic component of the Atrium Health enterprise, invites applications for a nationally recognized Breast Cancer Medical Oncologist at the level of Associate or Full Professor to serve as the Endowed chair for breast cancer medical oncology group across the wake forest and regional hospitals. Candidates with excellent clinical or translational research are highly encouraged to apply.

The successful candidate will report directly to the chief of medical oncology and the chair of the Department of Cancer Medicine and will have strategic and operational accountability to Breast Cancer service line leadership. The breast cancer medical oncology group director will drive excellence in patient care, clinical and translational research, and quality improvement (QI) initiatives. This individual will play a pivotal role in advancing Wake Forest’s academic and clinical missions as part of Atrium Health, which now serves as the academic core for the Advocate Health system, one of the largest nonprofit health systems in the United States

This position offers a remarkable opportunity for an academic leader to shape the future of Breast oncology across a regional network that integrates research, education, and high-quality cancer care.

Key Responsibilities

1. Leadership and Program Development

• Serve as Leader of the Breast Cancer Medical Oncology Disease Group, providing strategic direction across clinical, research, and educational missions.

• Participate in the development of a new comprehensive breast program facility.

• Grow the disease group to faculty and expand services across the Wake Forest Market (Winston-Salem and regionals)
• Closely integrate with breast surgery, radiation oncology, pathology, radiology, and translational science leadership to enhance integrated breast cancer care and research initiatives.
• Partner with the Division Chief for Medical Oncology and Regional Practice and reginal chiefs to align disease group goals with institutional priorities in quality, access, and academic excellence.
• Mentor junior faculty, oncology fellows, and research trainees, cultivating the next generation of academic oncologists and physician-scientists.
• Represent the breast cancer program in Advocate breast cancer service line meetings, institutional committees, strategic planning initiatives, and external academic and professional forums.
• Assists with recruitment of new physicians, APPs and staff (where needed).

1. Clinical and Translational Research

• Strengthen a robust portfolio of clinical and translational research focused on breast cancer.
• Develop and execute investigator-initiated trials in collaboration with Wake Forest’s extensive translational science infrastructure and the NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP).
• Engage with institutional cores (e.g., Cancer Genomics, Immune Monitoring, Biostatistics, Artificial Intelligence) to develop high-impact research proposals and collaborations.
• Successfully initiates and sustains extramural funding to support research programs like NIH, DOD, foundations, or industry partnerships.
• Publish in high-impact journals and present findings at major oncology conferences (e.g., ASCO, ESMO).
• Expand clinical trial participation and access across the Wake Forest regional network (decentralization of clinical trials)
• Successfully initiates and sustains external funding to support research programs.

1. Clinical Excellence

• Provide expert, compassionate, and evidence-based care for patients with breast cancer across Wake Forest Baptist’s main campus and affiliated regional practices.

• Collaborates with the multidisciplinary team (medical oncology, radiation oncology, radiology, and pathology) on breast cancer patient's plan of care. Advocates for best practice, guidelines-driven patient care in multidisciplinary conference settings. Communicates patient's plan of care to appropriate team members.

• In collaboration with service line and surgical group operational leaders, oversees the daily clinical workings of the ambulatory clinic operations (Breast Care centers). Effectively resolves clinical issues that arise. General functions and responsibilities include but not limited to the oversight of issues involving day-to-day clinical operations, administrative responsibility for decisions and activities affecting patient care including the investigation of breaches of quality patient care or ethical conduct by medical staff members.

• Integrate clinical research and quality initiatives into patient care,.
• Contribute to the development of clinical pathways, quality initiatives, and innovation in care delivery for breast malignancies.

1. Education and Mentorship

• Teach and mentor medical students, residents, and oncology fellows through the Wake Forest School of Medicine.
• Support the career development of trainees and junior faculty in clinical investigation and academic medicine.
• Participate in institutional and national educational programs that advance knowledge in breast cancer.

Qualifications

• M.D. or M.D./Ph.D. degree with board certification in Medical Oncology.
• Eligibility for licensure in the state of North Carolina.
• Demonstrated record of academic achievement suitable for appointment at the Associate Professor or Full Professor level at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
• Proven leadership experience within an academic medical center or cancer program.
• Documented success in clinical and translational research or Phase 1, including clinical trial leadership, extramural funding, and peer-reviewed publications.
• Commitment to team science, mentorship, and diversity in academic medicine.

Preferred Attributes

• Experience leading multi-investigator research programs, clinical trial consortia, or translational research program.

• A collaborative, inclusive, entrepreneurial and patient-centered disposition.

• Some experience of leadership and demonstration of proven leadership skills
• National recognition through service on committees or leadership roles within professional societies (e.g., ASCO, EORTC, Alliance).
• Visionary leadership with the ability to integrate academic innovation into a regional oncology network.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to collaborate effectively across departments and disciplines

• Commitment to excellence with the highest level of integrity and a reputation for compassion, fairness and objectivity.

Institutional Environment

The Wake Forest Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and the Atrium Health enterprise, is one of the nation’s leading academic cancer programs and among a select group of NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. With a mission to reduce the burden of cancer through excellence in clinical care, research, and education, the Center provides an exceptional environment for multidisciplinary collaboration and innovation.

Faculty benefit from:

• A fully integrated clinical trials office with NCI and industry-funded portfolios.
• Access to the Wake Forest Innovations ecosystem for translational research support.
• A rapidly growing regional oncology network extending advanced cancer care throughout the Atrium Health system.
• A collaborative culture that values discovery, mentorship, and diversity.