Biological Technician

This competition is open to all applicants however internal candidates and applicants who were former employees of the University of Alberta in the past 18 months will be given priority consideration before external candidates. Please indicate your internal status using the "Advertisement" drop down menu when applying.

This position has an end date of one year from the date of hire and offers a comprehensive benefits package which can be viewed at: Faculty & Staff Benefits .

The Li Ka Shing Applied Virology (LKSAV) Group is a collaborative research environment designed to translate and commercialize basic research discoveries. There are ±30 staff from varied disciplines (virologists, chemists, immunologists, computational scientists and GMP manufacturers, etc.) working in the Li Ka Shing Applied Virology Group with more than 12 active projects under development for future clinical testing. In addition, the group actively collaborates with about 12 Principal Investigators from the department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology as well as other University of Alberta departments. It also has active collaborations with several Principal Investigators at other Canadian & international organizations.

The position’s primary responsibilities will be to provide technical assistance to research projects focused on understanding hepatitis C virus biology and the immunology of infectious diseases. In addition, this individual will be involved in the daily operation of Dr. Houghton’s basic research laboratory located in the Katz Group Centre as well as contributing greatly to the quality control requirements with the Li Ka Shing Centre

Duties

     Molecular Biology Techniques:

• Responsible for the routine synthesis of HCV genome to support production of HCV by cultured cells
• Generate site-directed mutation(s) on HCV gene(s) to evaluate the effect on protein expression and immunogenicity
• Biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) techniques are required due to the exposure to and handling of human pathogens (i.e., blood borne pathogen such as HCV).
• Work with human pathogens and human tissues (liver and blood) will require immunization for Hepatis A and Hepatis B
• Performs HCV, HBV and/or psuedotyped SARS-CoV2 neutralization assay in cell culture to evaluate immunogenicity of vaccine candidate from animal models
• Performs experiments with cell cultures. Some of these cell culture produces vaccine antigen for an extended period of time, thus sterile techniques and accurate record and report data collection are critical
• Purify recombinant protein from tissue cultured cells using various biochemical techniques
• Maintenance and storage of cell culture-cell lines being used for majority of research will have to be maintained in continuous culture and frozen stock cultures will have to be routinely made so that these valuable cell cultures will not have to be re-derived

     Additional activities:

• Molecular cloning, Aseptic Technique, Cell Culture, Virus Manipulation, Protein purification, Virus infection of Cell culture, Western Blot, Northern Blot, PCR, real time PCR, SDS PAGE, Agarose Gel electrophoresis, Radioactive labeling of proteins, Transfection of tissue culture cells, Immunoprecipitation, Sucrose gradients, RNA and DNA isolation, processing, and procedures with human and animal tissues
• Additional activities include providing training to others (as and when required) giving oral presentations and assisting in manuscript preparation
• In consultation with the supervisor: Execute technical aspects as well a provide technical support for the lab. Keep lab notes suitable for review, will be required to present experimental details (outcomes) at regular intervals (i.e., lab meetings) and will be required to prepare draft of manuscripts for publication. Manage the lab in daily operations including lab supply orders and maintain biological and chemical inventories
• Confidentiality of the experiments and processes are required. Information on Hypotheses, experiment details/results/interpretations may only be disclosed with express permission from the Principal Investigator
• Provide limited training, guidance and monitoring of students, post docs, and technicians who may be covering for absences

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry
• Minimum of 8 years related laboratory experience
• Experience with CRISPR-Cas9 technology is preferred
• Experience in molecular virology of Hepatitis B and C viruses
• Co-authored research articles in scientific journals and presented findings at International Conferences
• Previous experience in lab management (dealing with laboratory compliance tasks and biological and chemical waste disposal)
• Proficiency in English – written, reading, and speaking

COVID-19 Vaccination: Proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 in compliance with the University’s COVID-19 Vaccination Directive. Fully Vaccinated means a status an individual achieves 14 days after having received the recommended number of doses of a COVID-19 vaccine approved by Health Canada or the World Health Organization, and requires the individual to maintain the recommended number and type of vaccine doses as updated and required by Health Canada thereafter.

Note: Online applications are accepted until midnight Mountain Standard Time of the closing date.

We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those individuals selected for an interview will be contacted.