University of Hawaii-Manoa Chancellor Robert Bley-Vroman has initiated a search for a permanent director for the financially struggling UH Cancer Center, the university announced this afternoon.

The center’s former director, Michele Carbone, stepped down last November amid growing concerns over the center’s deteriorating financial condition. UH earlier this year hired a mainland consultant to develop a business plan that evaluates various options for the center, which has been overspending revenues by $7.5 million to $9.5 million a year and burning through its reserves.

Some members of the university’s Board of Regents have previously said it would be premature to start a search before receiving the business report, which is expected in the next couple of months.

The university said a 10-member search advisory committee will recommend finalists for the post to the chancellor, who will make a recommendation to UH President David Lassner.

“This is a critical position for not only the Cancer Center, but the state of Hawaii,” Bley-Vroman said in a statement. “We are looking for a strong and respected leader to help the various components of the Cancer Center to unite around a shared vision and mission. We look forward to a successful search for someone to lead the Cancer Center to reduce the burden of cancer through research, education, clinical trials and patient care with an emphasis on the unique ethnic, cultural and environmental characteristics of Hawaii and the Pacific.”

The job posting for the position does not list a salary range. Carbone, who was hired in 2009, earned more than $400,000 a year as director. Dr. Jerris Hedges, dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine, has been serving as interim director of the center.

The center’s money troubles stem from a flawed business plan that assumed UH’s share of the state cigarette tax would remain steady at nearly $20 million a year to fund operations. But as fewer people smoke, the center’s share of the revenues has dropped off. Under Carbone, the center pursued building a new, $100 million facility in Kakaako using that business plan, which has saddled the center with an $8 million annual mortgage payment it can’t afford.

UH officials have hinted that legislative support for the upcoming fiscal year may come in the form of proposals calling for a larger share of the cigarette tax or a new tax on e-cigarettes.

The search committee members are:

>>Margaret McFall-Ngai, director of the Pacific Biosciences Research Center, committee chair

>>Christian Dye, graduate student (Kualii Council representative)

>>Wei Jia, UH Cancer Center researcher

>>Loic Le Marchand, UH Cancer Center researcher

>>Diane Ono, attorney (alumni/community member representative)

>>Charles Rosser, UH Cancer Center researcher

>>Sharon Shigemasa, UH Cancer Center publication specialist, (Hawaii Government Employees

Association representative)

>>James Turkson, UH Cancer Center researcher

>>Stuart Watson, graduate student (Graduate Student Organization representative)

>>Lynne Wilkens, UH Cancer Center specialist