Chair, Department of Pediatrics

Duke University School of Medicine, Duke University Health System (DUHS), and the Duke Health Integrated Practice (DHIP) seek a nationally recognized pediatrician at the Associate Professor or Professor level to serve as Chair of the Department of Pediatrics. Reporting directly to the Executive Vice President for Health Affairs of Duke University and Dean of the School of Medicine, and the Chief Executive Officer of DUHS, the chair has the opportunity to shape a robust academic department with a proven reputation for providing high-quality, innovative, patient-centered care, advancing cutting edge research, and cultivating a wide-range of educational opportunities for medical students, residents, and fellows. The ideal candidate will be an experienced growth-minded and visionary leader, with outstanding communication skills, a distinguished record of original research, exceptional clinical and educational skills, and a commitment to the mission of Duke Health.

The Department of Pediatrics is a large, multispecialty organization comprising 19 divisions and hosting 210 faculty members, 150 community pediatricians, 74 residents and 62 sub-specialty residents and fellows, and 100 rotating medical students. The department provides high quality care to patients at Duke Children’s Hospital and Health Center, Duke University Hospital, and clinics across the region. It supports outstanding residency and fellowship training programs throughout the specialties represented, and its faculty, fellows, and residents are involved in a wide array of clinical, translational, and basic research programs.

The chair oversees all operational and programmatic aspects within the Department of Pediatrics, including clinical, research, and education activities. They manage budgets and resources within the department, as well as the mentorship and development of all researchers, providers, and trainees.

 

Responsibilities

 

Institutional

• Provide visionary leadership to advance the department’s growth and excellence.
• Foster professional relationships, open communication, teamwork, and healthy change.
• Collaborate with Duke Health leadership to enhance clinical excellence, patient satisfaction, and research initiatives.
• Oversee budget and financial management, ensuring an aligned and integrated department budget process across the school, DHIP, and institution to support strategic goals and financial sustainability.
• Promote equitable development opportunities for faculty, including mentorship and leadership development.
• Ensure responsible stewardship of philanthropic funds.
• Maintain a strong administrative team aligned with the chair’s and the institution’s objectives.
• Recruit and retain collaborative division chiefs and vice chairs representing diverse backgrounds and expertise leading all missions.
• Serve on relevant committees and represent the department in community activities.
• Contribute to the planning of North Carolina Children’s Hospital (NCC), the state’s first freestanding children’s hospital in collaboration with the University of North Carolina. Plans for NC Children’s feature a 500-bed hospital along with an ambulatory surgical center, medical office building, and behavioral health hospital. The campus will include rehabilitation facilities and translational research capabilities with a dedicated innovation/collaboration zone, and is expected to break ground in 2027.

 

Clinical

• Oversee planning, funding, and sustainability of departmental activities while maintaining excellence and required accreditations and certifications.
• Work directly with hospital administration to develop budgets and manage financial issues related to clinical operations.
• Expand services to care for larger cross sections of North Carolina, national, and international
• Promote an inclusive and healthy workplace environment where all can thrive.
• Oversee clinical conferences, M&M proceedings, and business meetings.
• Conduct comprehensive annual evaluations and provide performance feedback. Ensure appropriate conduct inclusive of core values of the faculty.

 

Educational

• Ensure top-tier clinical and research education and training for medical students, residents, and fellows, as well as education mentorship to faculty and community providers.
• Maintain nationally recognized residency and fellowship programs.
• Oversee educational activities and promote Duke’s values and missions.
• Participate in resident and hospital staff conferences and rounds.
• Maintain Pediatrics Grand Rounds and other educational series.

 

Research

• Advance transdisciplinary research and participate in developing strategic research priorities.
• Recruit, mentor, and develop research talent that facilitates sustained excellence.
• Manage the department research budget and ensure compliance with grant, legislative, and institutional guidelines.
• Ensure an unwavering atmosphere of ethical research practices.

 

Key Priorities

• Support a diverse and passionate faculty committed to excellence across all missions.
• Integrate clinical strategy across the health system and develop an aligned strategic plan.
• Develop growth priorities and participate in institutional direction while prioritizing both the clinical and academic mission.
• Create, engage, and empower the chair’s senior leadership team.
• Enhance faculty morale through engagement and active listening.
• Encourage faculty to engage in innovative, transdisciplinary research and education

 

Qualifications

Application Process

 

Candidates should submit a letter of interest and a Curriculum Vitae to Lauren Binanay via email at lauren.binanay@duke.edu by May 5, 2025.

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About the Organization

 

Duke University and Duke Health

Duke University is a member of the Association of American Universities, and one of the most prestigious higher education institutions in the country, with 10 nationally prominent schools, including the Schools of Medicine and Nursing.

Duke’s home campus encompasses three contiguous campuses in Durham as well as a Marine Lab in Beaufort, North Carolina. Duke also is active internationally through the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore, Duke Kunshan University in China, and over 300 research and education programs across the globe.

Duke Health has grown into one of the country’s largest clinical and biomedical research institutions. Duke Health conceptually integrates the Duke University School of Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School, Duke University School of Nursing, Duke Health Integrated Practice (DHIP), and the Duke University Health System, and incorporates the health and health research programs within the Duke Global Health Institute as well as those in schools and centers across Duke University, including the Duke Robert J. Margolis Center for Health Policy. The health system advances the clinical mission by delivering care across three hospitals (Duke University Hospital, Duke Regional Hospital, and Duke Raleigh Hospital) and numerous outpatient services, including Duke Primary Care, Duke Home Care & Hospice, Duke Health and Wellness, and multiple affiliations. In April 2022, physician members voted to endorse a motion to co-create a new Duke Health Integrated Practice  (DHIP) within Duke University Health System. DHIP, one of the nation’s first and largest academic multi-specialty group practices, encompasses 1,900 physicians, 2,300 advanced practice providers, nurses, clinic, and administrative staff, 110 primary care and specialty clinics with more than 2 million patient visits.

 

Duke University School of Medicine

Duke University School of Medicine takes pride in being an inclusive community of outstanding learners, investigators, clinicians, and staff where interdisciplinary collaboration is embraced and great ideas accelerate translation of fundamental scientific discoveries to improve human health locally and around the globe. The school is composed of more than 2,600 faculty physicians and researchers, nearly 2,000 students, and more than 6,200 staff.

The school is led by Dean Mary E. Klotman, MD who also serves as Executive Vice President for Health Affairs for Duke University and Chief Academic Officer for Duke Health. The school features 26 clinical and basic science departments and several centers and institutes formed through a strong culture of collaboration between researchers, departments, schools within the university, including the Duke Clinical Research Institute, the world’s largest academic clinical research organization.

The School of Medicine offers a variety of health professions and graduate degree programs and its Graduate Medical Education program includes more than 160 residency and fellowship programs and more than 1,000 trainees. The combined efforts of the school’s basic and clinical faculty members in departments, centers, and institutes make Duke one of the largest biomedical research enterprises in the country.

 

We are Duke

Duke is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual’s age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the broad range of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

 

Contact Name

Lauren Binanay

Contact Phone

919-681-9796

Contact Email

lauren.binanay@duke.edu