Research Technician II

Universityhealthnetwork; Toronto; On-site; CAD 43,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto is seeking a Research Technician to join a multi-disciplinary team researching glioblastoma. The Diamandis lab aims to establish an intracranial mouse model by injecting patient-derived glioma stem cells into living mice.

The successful candidate will help troubleshoot stereotaxic setup, optimize injection location and cell numbers, and perform survival surgeries as needed. A Bachelor's degree and 2+ years of mouse research are required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Molecular Biology, Cancer Biology, Cell Biology, or related field required.
• Minimum of 3 years of relevant wet-lab experience, with at least 2 years of mouse research.
• Ability to follow, optimize, and troubleshoot complex experimental protocols.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to maintain clear/accurate experimental records.
• Excellent communication skills and fluency in English.

Responsibilities

• Culture/maintain glioma stem cells and assist with wet lab experiments.
• Troubleshoot stereotaxic setup to immobilize anesthetised mice.
• Identify ideal location to inject glioma stem cells into brains of immobilized mice.
• Determine appropriate number of tumor cells and duration for tumor establishment.
• Harvest brain tissue and perform immunofluorescence and imaging to assess tumor invasion.
• Assist other lab members with in vivo glioblastoma mouse model projects.

Skills

Wet-lab experience

Mouse research

English fluency

Education

Bachelor's degree in Molecular Biology, Cancer Biology, Cell Biology, or related field

Job description

Union: Non-Union
Number of vacancies: 1
New or Replacement Position: New
Site: Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Department: Research
Reports to: Senior Scientist
Salary Range: $31.02 - $38.78 per hour
Hours: 37.5 hours per week
Shifts: Day
Status: Temporary Full-time (1 year contract)
Closing Date: September 30, 2026

Position Summary

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre is seeking a dedicated and professional Research Technician to join a multi-disciplinary team researching glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer. The Diamandis lab is seeking to establish an intra-cranial mouse model of glioblastoma involving the injection of patient-derived glioma stem cells into the brains of living mice. The successful candidate will play a key role in developing this mouse model. Their primary responsibilities will include troubleshooting the stereotaxic setup necessary to immobilize anesthetised mice, identifying the ideal location for tumor cell injection and determining the appropriate number of tumor cells and length of time for a glioblastoma tumor to reproducibly establish within the mice. Given these responsibilities, the successful candidate must be comfortable handling and performing survival surgeries on mice, and ideally will have 2+ years of experience with rodent surgery. This position is fully on-site (no remote component).

Duties

• Culture/maintain glioma stem cells and assist with wet lab experiments.
• Troubleshoot stereotaxic setup necessary to immobilize anesthetised mice.
• Identify ideal location to inject glioma stem cells into brains of immobilized mice.
• Determine appropriate number of tumor cells and length of time for a glioblastoma tumor to reproducibly establish within the mice.
• Harvest brain tissue from mice and perform immunofluorescence and imaging to assess extent of tumor brain infiltration.
• Assist other lab members with projects involving in vivo glioblastoma mouse model.

• At minimum, Bachelor's degree in Molecular Biology, Cancer Biology, Cell Biology, or a related field required.
• Minimum of 3 years of relevant wet-lab experience - with at least 2 years of experience with mouse research
• Ability to follow, optimize, and troubleshoot complex experimental protocols.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to maintain clear/accurate experimental records.
• Excellent communication skills and fluency in English.
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative, multidisciplinary research environment.

Why join UHN?

In addition to working alongside some of the most talented and inspiring healthcare professionals in the world, UHN offers a wide range of benefits, programs and perks. It is the comprehensiveness of these offerings that makes it a differentiating factor, allowing you find value where it matters most to you, now and throughout your career at UHN.

• Competitive offer packages
• Government organization and a member of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP https://hoopp.com/)
• Close access to Transit and UHN shuttle service
• A flexible work environment
• Opportunities for development and promotions within a large organization
• Additional perks (multiple corporate discounts including: travel, restaurants, parking, phone plans, auto insurance discounts, on-site gyms, etc.)

Current UHN employees must have successfully completed their probationary period, have a good employee record along with satisfactory attendance in accordance with UHN's attendance management program, to be eligible for consideration.

Please be advised that a Criminal Record Check may be required of the successful candidate. Should it be determined that any information provided by a candidate be misleading, inaccurate or incorrect, UHN reserves the right to discontinue with the consideration of their application.

UHN is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive recruitment process and workplace.

Requests for accommodation can be made at any stage of the recruitment process. Applicants need to make their requirements known.

We thank all applicants for their interest.