Almost exactly a year after Michele Carbone resigned as director of the struggling University of Hawaii Cancer Center, the UH is initiating a formal search process for his replacement.

At the time, the center faced an annual budget deficit of about $10 million.

Jerris Hedges, dean of the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine, has been serving as the cancer center’s interim director.

In April, the university announced that the Cancer Center and the medical school would merge administrative functions to cut costs.

In its job announcement, the university said the new director will be “expected to devote part of his/her efforts to philanthropy to raise additional resources, and lead the faculty in the development of relevant and innovative research programs that are commensurate with the new space and other resources afforded by State support.

“The Director will also be responsible for ensuring that the Center is positioned to renew its (National Cancer Institute) designation by demonstrating strength in each of the six essential characteristics: visionary leadership, organizational capabilities, trans-disciplinary collaborations, cancer focus, institutional commitments, and physical space.”

Review of applications will begin Dec. 30, and will continue until the position is filled, the university said.