Zandstra lab - Non Union - Research Assistant​/Technician

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Job End Date

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

We are seeking a skilled, detail-oriented, humanized mouse/lab research technician to join our enthusiastic research team in the Zandstra Stem Cell Bioengineering laboratory. This position will directly contribute to pre-clinical validation pipelines by performing specialized procedures that facilitate the translation of stem cell–derived and engineered immune cells for therapeutic applications.

Working alongside bioengineers and immunologists, the successful candidate will develop and implement state-of-the-art in vivo models to investigate immune function, engraftment, and cell persistence. This role encompasses colony management, specialized procedural work, and hands-on support for studies in hematopoiesis and therapeutic development.

Organizational Status
The Research Assistant/Technician will report to Principal Investigator in the Zandstra Lab and work collaboratively with other staff, students and postdoctoral fellows.

Work Performed
The technician will work in laboratory and animal facility setting and may be required to work occasional weekend or evening work for time-sensitive experiments. The work involves exposure to animal allergens and biological materials, including immunodeficient mice and human cells. An initial orientation will be provided on biosafety, radiation safety, and animal handling.

Animal Husbandry & Colony Management:

• Maintain and manage genetically engineered mouse colonies.

• Monitor animal health and welfare, identify signs of distress, and coordinate veterinary care.

• Maintain accurate breeding and experimental records using colony management software.

• Coordinate routine genotyping.

Technical Procedures:

• Perform humanized mouse model generation, including engraftment of human CD34+ HSCs or immune cell products.

• Sublethal irradiation.

• Perform blood collection via tail vein and cardiac puncture techniques.

• Conduct live bone marrow aspirations (training will be provided).

• Tissue harvests (e.g. bone marrow, spleen, thymus, lymph nodes).

• Administer compounds via oral gavage, intraperitoneal, intravenous, and subcutaneous routes.

• Mice ultrasound.

• Flow cytometry sample preparation, acquisition and analysis (training will be provided).

• Monitor post-procedure recovery and escalate any concerns to senior researchers.

• Animal/Human primary cell genotyping, extracting DNA, and running qPCR or ddPCR on the samples.

Research Support:

• Assist in pre-clinical validation studies for cell therapy products.

• Coordinate with bioengineers on experimental design for in vivo efficacy and safety studies.

• Prepare single-cell suspensions from hematopoietic tissues.

• Process samples for downstream analysis (flow cytometry, histology, molecular biology).

• Maintain detailed experimental logs and contribute to data organization.

• Collaborate with research staff to execute experimental protocols.

Compliance & Safety:

• Ensure compliance with institutional animal care guidelines provided by the UBC Animal Care Committee (ACC).

• Maintain sterile technique for immunocompromised mouse handling.

• Follow biosafety and chemical safety protocols.

• Participate in required training and continuing education.

• Adopt the best practices for animal welfare..

• Coordinate tasks with the ARC Animal Facility or UBC animal facilities.

Consequence of Error/Judgement
This position requires a high degree of accuracy and sound judgment. Errors in animal handling, irradiation procedures, surgical techniques, or sample processing could result in animal welfare concerns, loss of valuable research specimens, compromised experimental data, and significant delays to pre-clinical studies. Errors in record-keeping, genotyping, or biosafety compliance could impact research integrity and regulatory compliance. Failure to adhere to animal care and biosafety protocols may result in institutional non-compliance and suspension of research activities.

Supervision Received
The candidate works under general supervision of the Principal Investigator. Routine responsibilities and established protocols are performed independently. Detailed instructions and guidance are provided for new procedures or complex experimental designs. The role requires independent…