Master Student in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Dr. Wang is a Michael Smith Health Research BC Scholar and a Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada New Investigator. Upon joining UBC in 2021, she attracted >1.5 million research funding as the principal investigator. In 2022, Dr. Wang was appointed as the Director of Bruce McManus Cardiovascular Biobank, which has the largest collection of explanted hearts in Canada. Dr. Wang’s research program leverages biobank human specimens, mechanistic studies, and cutting-edge ‘Omics’ technologies to advance cardiovascular medicine for patients who suffer from atherosclerotic disease (blockage of the blood vessels). Therapeutics, vascular biology, and technology development are the three pillars of the research program.

We are seeking one MSc student to join us in the fall of 2024. Their projects aim to customize spatial gene expression technology for understanding the biology of vascular smooth muscle cells in normal and atherosclerotic blood vessels.  

Cardiovascular events, like heart attack and stroke, could be lethal and they affect 6.9% of the total population in BC each year. Most of these lethal events are due to atherosclerosis, a chronic disease in which atherosclerotic lesions (or plaques) that are made of diseased cells build up in blood vessels. Different from the traditional assumption that larger lesions are riskier to cause cardiovascular events, molecular pathology studies have found that the function of lesion cells is more important than lesion size. Over the last few years, new ‘Omics’ biotechnologies and bioinformatics methods are revolutionizing our way of exploring cellular function using diseased tissues removed from patients (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35872917/ ). Vascular smooth muscle cells, the main components of atherosclerotic lesions, differentiate into different phenotypes and drive disease progression (https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2006348117 ). Understanding the cellular function of vascular smooth muscle cells during human atherogenesis will reveal potential therapeutic targets and diagnostic biomarkers.

During the first year of their program, the student will be expected to complete 12 credits of courses through the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UBC. It is highly recommended that candidates start as summer Research Assistants in July to engage with lab members and industry experts before the graduate program officially starts in September.

This project is supported by the New Frontiers in Research Program led by Dr. Wang. This program encourages interdisciplinary communication and collaboration. Students will be working with lab members from computer science backgrounds to transcend the boundaries between vascular biology and bioinformatics. The student will be expected to participate in regular laboratory and small group meetings, and weekly check-ins with the supervisor. The student will be expected to perform experiments independently in the second year. The student is expected to present results at conferences and publish one research article as the first author.  

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

§  Completed BSc

§  1+ years of research experience in a wet lab or working experience in industry or clinical service

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

§  Strong molecular biology background

§  Strong oral and written communication skills

§  Self-motivated

§  Experience in histology, microscopy imaging, and cell culture

Submit the application package as a single document to: [email protected]

§  Curriculum Vitae (including contact information of 3 referees)

§  Academic transcripts

An annual graduate student stipend will be available. Dr. Wang will support proactive candidates in applying for external scholarships and awards.