Current Research Opportunities

Note that not all faculty members will advertise positions on the Research Opportunities website; students should contact faculty members they are interested in working with regardless of whether or not they have a position advertised.

Research Opportunity	Faculty Member	Description
MBB 481/2/3, MBB-491/2	Dr. Ralph Pantophlet	The Pantophlet Lab in Health Sciences wishes to recruit at least two upper-division undergraduate students for Spring or Summer 2023 seeking Directed Research or Honours research opportunities (MBB 481/2/3 or MBB 491/2). Prospective projects will focus on antigen design and immunization strategies (flu, HIV, HCMV), likely involving mRNA. Students should have a demonstrable passion for biomedical research (e.g. as evident from courses taken or previous lab experience). Students with an interest in vaccine-related R&D are especially encouraged to apply. Interested students should send email to rpantophlet@sfu.ca with a brief but clear description of research interests and academic goals. The email must include a current transcript and an academic CV.
Volunteers	Dr. Dustin King	Support our research on microbial metabolite sensing. Interested students should e-mail Dr. King explaining their research interests and provide a copy of their CV and academic transcript. Students are encouraged to do volunteer work in the lab before doing an independent research course or USRA. (Posted 12OCT2022)
MBB481/2/3, MBB498-3, MBB491-5	Dr. Dustin King	The King lab studies the molecular basis of how bacteria sense and respond to CO₂. Currently, we are developing novel proteomic methods to discover CO₂ modification sites on proteins. Interested students should e-mail Dr. King explaining their research interests and provide a copy of their CV and academic transcript. (Posted 12OCT2022)
NSERC/VPR USRAs	Dr. Dustin King	The King lab studies the molecular basis of how bacteria sense and respond to CO₂. Currently, we are developing novel proteomic methods to discover CO₂ modification sites on proteins. Interested students should e-mail Dr. King explaining their research interests and provide a copy of their CV and academic transcript. (Posted 12OCT2022)
Volunteers	Dr. Lynne Quarmby	Alpine snow algae microbiome (Reposted 15Feb2022)
MBB481/2/3	Dr. Lynne Quarmby	Alpine snow algae microbiome (15Feb2022)
Volunteers	Dr. Chris Beh	sterile technique and microbial culturing (Reposted 14Feb2022)
MBB481/2/3	Dr. Chris Beh	The regulation of membrane contact sites and intracellular transport pathways.(Reposted 14Feb2022)
MBB481/2/3	Dr. Tim Audas	Stress-induced amyloid aggregation in mammalian cells. Interested students should e-mail Dr. Audas outlining their research interests along with a copy of transcripts and CV. (Reposted 8Feb2022)
MBB498-3	Dr. Tim Audas	Stress-induced amyloid aggregation in mammalian cells. Interested students should e-mail Dr. Audas outlining their research interests along with a copy of transcripts and CV. (Reposted 8Feb2022)
MBB491-5	Dr. Tim Audas	Stress-induced amyloid aggregation in mammalian cells. Interested students should e-mail Dr. Audas outlining their research interests along with a copy of transcripts and CV. (Reposted 8Feb2022)
MBB 481/2/3	Dr. Valentin Jaumouillé	Mechanosensing in innate immunity. Specialized innate immune cells, like macrophages, have the ability to engulf and kill microbes and mammalian cells alike trough phagocytosis. How do they decide what to engulf? The mechanical properties of their targets matter, but how macrophages sense these properties is largely unknown. The goal of this project is to test which components of the macrophage machinery are important for mechanosensing. You will use modern molecular biology techniques, including CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, to manipulate mechanosensitive components. You will validate your approaches using cell culture and microcopy. You will test specific roles of the targeted components using cellular assays. Interested students should e-mail Dr. Jaumouillé outlining their research interests along with a copy of transcripts and CV. (Reposted 8Feb2022)
MBB 491	Dr. Valentin Jaumouillé	Molecular biology approaches to leukocyte mechanobiology. Mechanical properties of immune cells play important roles in multiple contexts: phagocytosis, immunological synapse formation, cell migration, cancer proliferation. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying leukocyte cell mechanics are poorly understood. The goal of this project is to determine the role of specific membrane and cytoskeleton components in leukocyte cell mechanics. You will use modern molecular biology techniques, including CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, to manipulate putative molecular determinants of leukocyte cell mechanics. Interested students should e-mail Dr. Jaumouillé outlining their research interests along with a copy of transcripts and CV. (Reposted 8Feb2022)
MBB 496-6 for CMPT-MBB Joint Honours	Dr. Valentin Jaumouillé	Image processing for mechanobiology. Immune cells generate cellular forces to discriminate antigens, release cytotoxic vesicles, or phagocytose microbes and cells. However forces generated by immune cells are relatively small in comparison to fibroblasts or myoblasts, for example. Consequently, they can only be measured using highly sensitive techniques. Our lab is specialized in fluorescence microscopy-based biophysical measurements. The goal of this project is to implement and further develop cutting-edge image processing methods to perform high-sensitivity traction force microscopy. Interested students should e-mail Dr. Jaumouillé outlining their research interests along with a copy of transcripts and CV. (Reposted 8Feb2022)
MBB 481/2/3	Dr. Jonathan Choy	15-credit Direct Research opportunities are available in the Choy lab for individuals interested in studying how immune responses contribute to transplant rejection and autoimmune disease. Interested students should e-mail Dr. Choy describing their research interests along with a copy of transcripts and CV.
MBB 481/2/3	Dr. Nancy Hawkins	The Hawkins lab studies the role of asymmetrically localized proteins and the Wnt signaling pathway in asymmetric cell division in C. elegans. We have focused on the protein HAM-1, that is asymmetrically localized at the cell cortex in many dividing cells in the embryo. This protein also has a DNA binding domain and localizes to the nucleus. We proposed that the asymmetric localization at the cell cortex is one mechanism to specifically distribute the protein to one of the two daughter cells during division. The goal is to watch the segregation of HAM-1 in living embryos during cell division. To accomplish this goal, the directed research project will involve generating a plasmid construct that fuses the ham-1 gene to a gene encoding a photoconvertible fluorescent protein (Dendra2). This construct will then be used to generate transgenic C. elegans. A series of experiments will then be undertaken to visualize Dendra2::HAM-1 localization and segregation in transgenic embryos.
NSERC/VPR USRAs	Dr. Nancy Hawkins	Molecular mechanisms underlying asymmetric cell division
MBB 481/2/3	Dr. Nancy Hawkins	Molecular mechanisms underlying asymmetric cell division
MBBB481/2/3	Dr. Fiona Brinkman	Multiple bioinformatics projects: Antimicrobial gene mobility; Pathogen-associated gene analysis; Data curation and visualization of integrated microbiome, clinical, environmental data.
Directed Research	Dr. Peter Unrau	RNA aptamer and ribozyme selection and characterization opportunities.

Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry

MBB RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

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