Research Technician II at University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto, ON

Job description

Union: Non-Union Number of vacancies: 1 New or Replacement Position: New  Site: Allan Slaight Medical Innovation Labs (ASMIL) Department:  Research Reports to:  Senior Scientist Salary Range:  $31.72 - $39.65 per hour Hours: 37.5 hours per week Shifts: Day  Status: Temporary Full-time (1 year contract) Closing Date: November 13, 2026 Position Summary The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre is seeking a dedicated and highly organized Research Technician to join the Chan Lab, a multi-disciplinary team studying acute myeloid leukemia (AML), leukemic stem cells, clonal hematopoiesis and mitochondrial biology. Our work combines primary patient samples, functional genomics, and patient-derived xenograft models to identify and validate new therapeutic targets in myeloid malignancies. This is a dual role. The successful candidate will serve as the lab's in vivo mouse specialist, managing our mouse colony and performing the transplantation, treatment and tissue-harvest work. They will also act as the lab's operational anchor, overseeing ordering, inventory, equipment maintenance and safety compliance so that trainees and staff can work efficiently. Given these responsibilities, the successful candidate must be comfortable handling mice and performing injections, dissections and survival procedures, and ideally will have 2+ years of hands-on rodent experience in a research setting. Strong tissue culture and flow cytometry skills are equally essential. This position is fully on-site with minimal remote component. Duties Mouse colony management and in vivo work Manage the lab's immunodeficient and transgenic mouse colony, including breeding, weaning, genotyping, cage census and record keeping against approved animal use protocol limits. Perform intravenous injections of leukemia cells. Perform intrafemoral injections and femoral bone marrow aspirations for serial sampling of engrafted mice. Administer treatments by oral gavage and intraperitoneal injection, monitor animal health and apply humane endpoints. Track engraftment and disease burden by serial peripheral blood sampling and flow cytometry. Euthanize and dissect mice, harvesting bone marrow, spleen, liver and blood for downstream analysis. Prepare, maintain and renew animal use protocols and amendments, and keep training and compliance records current. Liaise with the animal facility on cage ordering, billing, health surveillance and importation of new strains. Train and supervise other lab members in approved animal procedures. Cell culture and wet lab experiments Maintain AML cell lines and primary patient-derived leukemia cells, including thawing, cryopreservation, mycoplasma testing and cell line authentication. Process primary patient and mouse samples by density gradient separation, red cell lysis and magnetic or antibody-based enrichment. Design, stain and run multi-colour flow cytometry panels, analyze data in FlowJo, and prepare samples for cell sorting. Support routine molecular work such as nucleic acid extraction, PCR and qPCR, cloning, lentiviral production and transduction, and immunoblotting. Maintain accurate, auditable records in the electronic lab notebook and organize raw data for analysis and publication. Assist graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and visiting trainees with in vivo and in vitro experiments. Lab organization and operations Act as the primary contact for purchasing, receiving and reconciling orders of reagents, consumables and equipment, working with the business officer and against multiple grant accounts. Maintain inventories of reagents, antibodies, plasmids, cell lines and frozen stocks, and monitor liquid nitrogen and freezer status. Coordinate equipment maintenance, service contracts, calibration and repairs, and manage shared instrument booking. Serve as the lab safety representative, covering containment level 2 biosafety, WHMIS, chemical and biohazard waste, spill response and safety training. Onboard and train ne