Research Assistant/technician 4

Staff - Non Union
Job Category
Non Union Technicians and Research Assistants
Job Profile
Non Union Salaried - Research Assistant /Technician 4
Job Title
Research Assistant/Technician 4
Department
Gibson Laboratory | Department of Medical Genetics | Faculty of Medicine
Compensation Range
$5,220.98 - $6,124.46 CAD Monthly
Posting End Date
December 13, 2024
**Note**: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.
Job End Date
Jan 1, 2026
This position is expected to be filled by promotion/reassignment and is included here to inform you of its vacancy at the University.
The Gibson lab at BC Children's Hospital aims to solve the causes of rare genetic diseases affecting children. We have specific expertise in epigenetic disorders that cause overgrowth and/or obesity. We recruit patients with rare genetic diseases and perform high-resolution phenotyping of these patients. Where feasible, we pair measurements of resting energy expenditure with data on body composition (fat mass, lean tissue mass and bone mass). We also use mice as animal models to resolve the underlying biology behind epigenetic disorders of growth and body composition. We require a highly capable Research Assistant/Technician who brings expertise in CRISPR/Cas9 technologies to be the principal agent who will drive the development of preclinical models of targeted therapies for epigenetic disorders. Prior expertise in management of mouse colonies, as well as in tracking and management of human-derived biospecimens, is also required.
The Gibson Lab is a collegial and dynamic environment, dedicated to serving the population of British Columbia through intellectually rigorous scientific inquiry.
Organizational Status
Work Performed
The Research Technician 4 will be responsible for day-to-day operations in the Gibson lab, including histology, molecular biology, CRISPR, cell/tissue culture, and mouse colony maintenance, mouse experiments, and breeding. The Technician will plan and perform experiments using complex procedures and techniques, troubleshoot problems, collect records, and analyze and interpret experimental results. The Technician will also perform resting energy expenditure and body composition measurements on human study participants, and will catalogue and maintain the Gibson Lab's biobank of patient samples.
**Specific Duties**:
**Project Related Duties**:
Designs, modifies and performs complex experiments requiring advanced technically skills:
**Cell and tissue culture**: preparation of media, feeding and expanding embryonic stem cells, preparation of feeder cells, freezing and thawing cells for culture, ESC electroporation experiments and ESC clone picking. Establishing new TC techniques. Microinjection techniques, harvesting of eggs from female mice and embryos or fetuses from pregnant mice.
**Molecular biology**: isolation and characterization of DNA, restriction enzyme digests design/optimization, PCR assays design/optimization, RNA isolation, cDNA synthesis, and dd qRT-PCR assay design/optimization. Western blotting and antibody detection of proteins.
CRISPR site-directed mutagenesis gene therapy assay/preclinical therapy design: designing guides and donors, complexing guides and Cas9 for electroporation, and designing PCR and sequencing assays to confirm editing events.
**Transgenic mouse colony maintenance and breeding including**: husbandry, maintenance, including weaning, genotyping and high-resolution metabolic phenotyping (energy intake and energy expenditure data paired with body composition data).
Conducts complex analysis and interpretation of data including:
Interpretation of DNA Sanger sequencing results, analysis of mutation site correction rate, and statistical analysis.
Troubleshoots complex equipment and systems problems.
Interpretation of dd qRT-PCR results and gene expression data.
**Present data and writing**:
Attend and present at weekly lab meeting, poster sessions and scientific meetings.
Help prepare manuscripts and figures for publication by gathering data from experiments, analyzing the data and writing the manuscript.
Oversees the progress of projects
Perform literature searches and keep up with current literature in the field.
Maintain high-quality records of samples, experiments and results.
**General lab-management related duties**:
Writes and maintains new and current biosafety, human ethics, and mouse protocols, and does annual reporting.
Develops and writes novel protocols and safety procedures. Liaisons with the university, as well as, site safety committees to preform regular lab inspections.
Liaises with University-Industry Liaison Office (UILO) for Data Transfer Agreements and Materials Transfer Agreements.
Provides instruction and training in the use of specialized techniques and equipment.
General lab chores, ordering of supplies, reagent preparation, receiving and inventory of lab supplies (annual chemical inventory) and testing eye wash station.
Organizes maintenance of