Postdoctoral Research Fellow

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Job Title

Department

Posting End Date

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

Job End Date

The Anglesio lab is looking to recruit a post doctoral fellow with experience in genetics, molecular pathology and bioinformatics. The successful candidate will join a growing lab at the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI; Vancouver) focusing on translational research at the intersection of uterine health, aging, endometriosis, and endometriosis-associated cancers.

The expected salary range for this position is $42,000-$48,000/annually (plus benefits) depending on experience and qualifications.

This is an on-site position within the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute in Vancouver and may require flexibility of hours for some duties, as well as ability to travel for research conferences and presentations.

The UBC Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology has training programs at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels, and pursues research to make innovative advancements in knowledge and translate it to practice to improve health. The Department consists of more than 300 physicians and scientists as well as over 50 administrative, research, and technical staff. Specialty training programs are offered in gynaecologic oncology, maternal fetal medicine, reproductive endocrinology and infertility, as well as advanced training programs in endometriosis, pelvic pain and advanced laparoscopic surgery, family planning, vulvovaginal health and female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery.

Deadline for applications & application process

This opportunity will commence as early as January 15, 2025, or a date to be mutually agreed upon. This posting will remain active until the position is filled. Review of applications will begin November 30, 2024.

Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority.

Applicants must submit all documents in PDF format only, including:

• Cover letter describing your background experience, motivation, and interest in this position (2-page maximum)

• Detailed CV with both academic experience, extra-curricular experience (as relevant), and list of publications. Highlight publications that you believe are specifically relevant to this position along with your role in these projects. Citation metrics are also helpful: e.g. H-score, citations per-paper.

• Names and contact information of three references.

The post-doctoral fellow will investigate cancer-like features in endometriosis across diverse population. While this project will focus on gynecologic health and endometriosis, it is optimally suited for a candidate with a cancer genomics background.

Around 10% of biologically female individuals will be affected by endometriosis over their lifetime. There is a heritable aspect to endometriosis with some relationship to ancestry and the highest reported rates of endometriosis are in Asian populations where > 15% of women are affected. The drivers of this common chronic gynecologic condition are poorly understood, particularly in non-Whites and with respect to the relationship between heritable and non-heritable features.

Endometriosis is a major cause of pain and infertility in women, is associated with significant financial burden, and multiple comorbidities including pain syndromes, inflammatory and immune conditions, anxiety, depression, and significantly increased risk of certain types of ovarian cancer. Endometriosis lesions often harbour (non-heritable) mutations in cancer-associated genes at rates much higher than would be expected if they were associated exclusively with malignant progression. While it is expected that these cancer-mutations play a role in endometriosis pathology the prevalence and functions are poorly understood.

The goal of this project will be to catalogue the spectrum of somatic, non-heritable mutations in endometriosis across White, Asian, Black, and Hispanic individuals and to identify diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities associated with specific mutations. Altered genes and pathways associated with somatic mutation may represent novel opportunities for personalized treatment based on the specific landscape of an individual’s disease.

Expected Duties and Work to Be Performed:

Lead the generation and analysis of molecular data including NGS and histopathology from endometriosis specimens.

• Wet bench experiments including tissue staining, microscopy, manual and laser-capture microdissection

• Nucleic acid extraction, PCR based methods, and NGS library preparation

• Co-ordination of immunohistochemistry (IHC), interpretation of histopathology including identification of epithelial and mesenchymal cell types and staining patterns

• Analysis of NGS data and integration with other sources such as histopathological data, clinical, data, etc.

• Maintain research records in lab books and approved, secure, digital repositories

Participate in a positive and co-operative research and learning environment:

• Interact with lab members and peers daily and in weekly lab meetings

• Participate in training and teaching initiatives such as summer student or co-op student supervision.

• Be able to teach lab peers about methods being employed in your research

• Present research results and their potential impact at lab meetings, hospital rounds, local and international meetings

• Provide a positive and inclusive example to peers through interactions with lab members and neighbours, sharing lab duties, attending local seminars, and participation community engagement initiatives (live and virtual)

Contribute to development of the research team:

• Apply for funding and fellowships where eligible

• Attend meetings to help define strategy, goals, and lo40gistics of research projects

• Participate in grant development, including brainstorming and concept development, generation of preliminary data for grant applications, preparing background information, writing grant sections.

Qualifications:

• A doctoral (PhD or Equivalent) degree in a related discipline such as Genetics, Cancer, or Molecular Pathology.

• Experience working with next-generation sequencing (NGS) data, specific experience in generating mutation and DNA copy number data.

• Experience with NGS data having UMI or Duplex sequencing methods is an asset.

• Experience with genomic methods including sequencing, NGS library preparation, molecular cloning, immunology, and histopathology are required.

• Strong organisational skills enabling independent work, replication of results, and advanced planning to keep multiple project arms moving forward simultaneously.

• Strong communication skills for writing reports, manuscripts, and presentations in English.

• Ability to work in a team environment with shared resources

• Ability to supervise junior trainees (graduate and undergraduate) is an asset