Medicine Opportunities

Interested trainees are always invited to contact us! Our lab welcomes diverse professional goals and aim to facilitate your career progression as much as possible. Broadly speaking we are interested in projects involved with: Mammalian DNA repair and its role in cancer therapeutic sensitivity Genomics approaches to monitor DNA processing Factors mediating CRISPR-based gene editing outcomes In vivo and in vitro biochemistry of nucleic acid-associated proteins Computational methods to predict protein binding and dynamics What we offer: Expertise in mammalian cell culture, fluorescence microscopy, cell biology assays, genomics (wet and dry), CRISPR-based techniques, protein purification, and nucleic acid biochemistry approaches A dynamic and interdisciplinary team working together in pursuit of excellent science A commitment to working with trainees to both pursue world-class research and cultivate soft skills necessary for individual career goals

There are a number of research assistants and volunteers who work in my lab. Opportunities are often available to get involved in projects that involve the research areas described on the Research Areas page. Volunteers can be involved in activities ranging from supporting activities (i.e., protocol preparation; data entry) to data collection (either for on-campus studies, or studies within forensic, prison, or psychiatric settings).

The primary aim of the Cardiopulmonary Exercise Physiology Laboratory is to better understand the physiological factors that limit exercise tolerance across the spectrum of health and chronic lung disease. The long term goal of this research program is to develop more effective rehabilitation interventions to improve exercise performance and quality of life for those suffering from chronic lung diseases. Dr. Guenette has supervised students pursuing MSc and PhD degrees through the UBC Rehabilitation Sciences Graduate Program.

The Psychology, Exercise, Health and Physical Activity Lab aims to understand both barriers to and facilitators of physical activity across the age spectrum, and developing conceptually-sound evidence-based interventions that are cost-effective and sustainable.

Please review publications on the website.

Throughout each year, 45 – 50 undergraduate students are trained at the HLI through co-operative education programs, directed studies programs or various employment opportunities. Students gain hands-on basic science laboratory experience in a research project and are mentored by Principal Investigators and laboratory staff or senior trainees including graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Not only does each student learn, in detail, several laboratory techniques per 4-month or 8-month placement but, more importantly for this formative period of development, students learn the critical logic of designing scientific experiments and interpreting data.

Opportunities are available for undergraduate students to gain experience and conduct research at the GSC. Co-op Programs Students enrolled in university co-op programs such as those at University of British Columbia, University of Victoria or Simon Fraser University may apply to the GSC. These are usually decided in early January for May (Summer), May for September (Fall) and September for January (Spring). Summer Studentships A limited number of summer positions for undergraduate students are usually available. Most of these are dependent on the receipt by the candidate of a competitive summer Studentship funded by the BC Cancer Foundation, the UBC Faculty of Medicine or NSERC. Students should check with the different agencies for eligibility and deadlines. Directed Studies It is also possible for advanced undergraduate students at UBC to do a directed studies project or honours thesis during the academic year (eg. Medical Genetics 448) under the supervision of GSC faculty.

The Brown Lab values diversity in experience, culture, and knowledge. We strive to recruit, include, and support people with diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences. Please read our equity and inclusion statement. If you are interested in research on pediatric rheumatic diseases, we would love to hear from you. We have opportunities for new trainees, as well as experienced researchers and medical fellows.

The CHART Lab is led by Dr. Hasina Samji, Associate Professor in the Simon Fraser University Faculty of Health Sciences. Lab activities are headquartered on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō, Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) Nations, also known as Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Outstanding undergraduate students may also consider applying for SSHRC or NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) if appropriate for their research interests. Please contact Dr. Samji well in advance of grant application deadlines to discuss your research interests and develop a funding proposal. Please review this lab's linked website for more information on research interests.

The CHATR lab runs under the leadership of Dr. Meghan Winters, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, located in Burnaby, BC, Canada. Lab members also commonly work out of the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute’s Centre for Aging SMART. We are always looking for talented trainees at all stages of their academic journey (undergraduate, graduate, post-doctoral). It is highly recommended that potential graduate students apply for external sources of funding (e.g. MSFHR, CIHR). Outstanding undergraduates are also encouraged to apply for an SSHRC or NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award. Please contact Dr. Winters well in advance of funder deadlines with with a current CV, transcript, and a statement of research interests to allow adequate time to discuss your interests and develop a funding proposal.

All living organisms face several fundamental physical challenges in their everyday existence. Among these are: the maintenance of order despite the propensity of everything to eventually get messy (a.k.a., the Second Law of Thermodynamics); and the performance of mechanically demanding tasks with the incredibly jiggly materials at hand (a.k.a., proteins). My group’s theoretical and computational biophysics research focuses on determining in this context the design principles for effective operation of molecular machines (proteins that convert between different forms of energy, but are 100 million times smaller than the car engines that engineers already know how to design). More specifically: what are the physical limits on how well these machine can operate; what kinds of designs achieve these limits; and (in collaboration with experimentalists) do real, evolved biomolecular machines actually conform with these theoretical predictions? We have a few projects (either working independently or in collaboration with a graduate student or postdoc) that involve computational simulation of the behavior of model molecular machines, such as ATP synthase (an ingenious crankshaft that makes the basic chemical currency in all living things) and kinesin (an equally ingenious bipedal ‘walker’ that transports cargos along the cytoskeletal tracts that criss-cross every cell). With this simulation data we can examine the soundness and usefulness of recently developed theoretical frameworks (our own and others’) to understand how molecular machines can maximize their miles per gallon. A successful summer would produce theoretical ideas to be tested in later experiments, and (with some follow-up during the next school year) would produce a paper for publication. The day-to-day work involves writing computer programs to simulate dynamics (typically in Python, Matlab, or C/C++, but we are flexible), debugging (sad but true) and testing your programs to make sure they do what you intend, and analyzing the data you generate.

Please see the linked website for current publications and information on what a volunteer position would look like in this lab.

A Medical image analysis lab (Computing Science, SFU). Our research focuses on developing artificial intelligence technologies for healthcare and biomedical applications, with a focus on computer vision and machine learning (and deep learning) techniques for automated interpretation of biomedical images.

Please see the linked website for current publications and information on what a volunteer position would look like in this lab.