Career Opportunities

Research Interests: Clinical exercise physiology, Cardiorespiratory physiology, Mechanisms and management of breathlessness and exercise intolerance, Chronic respiratory diseases

Research Interests: Partial differential equations, mathematical physics

Research Interests: Education policy, History of education

Potential project areas:

Projects related to my current research: history of education and social mobility, opportunity; education and housing markets; political economy of metropolitan schooling; policy; space and historical GIS mapping; history of immigration and education; history of educational finance and taxation. Or any project in the history of education; education policy.

Research Interests: Quantum materials, Materials design and discovery, Magnetism, Disorder, Superconductivity

Potential project areas:

Materials innovations have sparked most of the major technological advances across the millennia – from the stone, bronze, and iron ages through to the current silicon age. Science now stands on the precipice of a new era: the age of quantum materials – materials with extraordinary electronic and magnetic properties that rely on quantum mechanical effects. In the Hallas group, we use state-of-the-art crystal growth techniques to discover new quantum materials that could unlock these future technologies. 

Crystal growth of new materials

Our group uses a wide range of synthetic methods to grow samples of the materials we study. Conventional solid state methods (shake-and-bake) and flux crystal growth are ideally suited to exploratory synthesis in the pursuit of exciting new materials. The optical floating zone image furnace is a powerful tool that allows us to grow pristine large single crystals. High pressure methods allow us to capture metastable phases that cannot be grown under ambient pressure conditions, an excellent route to finding new structural phases with the potential for exotic new properties. By using this diverse set of synthetic techniques, we are able to explore the periodic table in an unconstrained way, applying the most favourable method for the material we seek to grow.

Structure and the role of disorder

Understanding the crystallography of our new material provides the foundation upon which all other characterizations rest. First and foremost, the crystal symmetry and the connectivity of our lattice informs which theoretical models may be applicable to our material. Furthermore, it is often the materials with the most interesting ground states that exhibit the most profound sensitivity to disorder. Thus, it is crucial to determine what types of disorder are present, and attempt to modify the crystal growth recipe to obtain the highest quality samples. To accomplish these structural characterizations, our starting point is always x-ray diffraction. From there on, we can expand to other tools such as neutron diffraction and electron microscopy.

Magnetic and electronic phenomena

Quantum materials can have remarkable magnetic and electronic states, ranging from superconductors to spin liquids to topological semimetals. These states often emerge under extreme conditions, very low temperatures and high magnetic fields. We have the ability to measure a wide range of physical properties, including magnetic susceptibility, heat capacity, and electrical resistivity, down to 0.05 K (1/20th of a degree above absolute zero!) and magnetic fields up to 14 T. 

Seeing deeper with neutrons and muons

While we can perform many measurements in our very own lab, some experimental techniques require us to travel to beam lines at large user facilities. We are lucky that Canada's only muon source, TRIUMF, is conveniently located on UBC campus. We can use muon spin relaxation experiments to understand whether our magnetic material is frozen or dynamic or to determine the penetration depth in our superconductor. To access neutron beams we have to travel further; Canada does not currently have a major neutron source. Neutron scattering experiments can tell us the arrangement of magnetic moments in a magnetically ordered material or to map out the the spin excitations. Muon and neutron experiments provide critical insights into the behaviors of quantum materials, that in some cases cannot be accomplished with any other experimental probe. 

Research Interests: Community Health / Public Health, Dental Health, Social Determinants of Health, Health Policies, Quality of Life and Aging, Adult Education and Continuing Education, Epidemiology, Access to care, Dental Education, Dental Geriatrics, Dental Public Health, Epidemiological data, Health Policy, Qualitative research

Potential project areas:

Dental Public Health (Underserved-access to care, Marginalization, Community-based participatory research, Stigma and Discrimination); Health Policy and Advocacy; Dental Education (Community Service Learning, Reflective Journaling, Teaching Pedagogies, Social Responsibility); Dental Geriatrics (Undergraduate and Graduate Education, Frailty, Access to care).

Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Digital & Media Literacy, Environmental & Energy Literacy, Environmental Humanities, Food Literacy, Literary Education, Sustainability Education, Writing & Rhetoric

Research Interests: Cellular virology, Emerging human viruses, COVID-19, Host-virus interactions, Broad-based antiviral agents, Antiviral agents, Natural products as antiviral agents, Lipid-modulating drugs, Cellular protease inhibitors, Viral protease inhibitors, Human coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2, Human flaviviruses, Dengue virus, Zika virus, West Nile virus, Influenza A virus, Human microRNAs, Therapeutic microRNA, Viral and cellular biomarkers, Molecular diagnostics for detecting viral infection, Circulating exosomes, Exosomal microRNAs, Proteomics-based technologies, Multiplexed and Mass Spectrometric quantitation assays

Potential project areas:

1. Antiviral strategies and antiviral therapeutics for WHO-priority viruses

2. Comparative phenotypic profiling and genomic analysis of emerging and re-emerging human enveloped pathogenic viruses

3. Discovering broad-spectrum therapeutics  for human viral diseases

4. Discovering novel broad-spectrum antiviral agents from natural product libraries

5. Unraveling the molecular mechanism of actions of newly discovered broad-spectrum antiviral molecules against human viruses using 2D and 3D organoids

6. Discovery of human host factors required for human virus infection using CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology

7. Identifying repurposable drug candidates for viral infection either tested alone or in combination using human organoid-based screening platforms with the goal of identifying synergistic drug combinations.

Research Interests: Proteases, Granzymes, Extracellular Matrix, Chronic inflammation, Aging, Disease models, Autoimmune disease, Skin, Vascular biology

Potential project areas:

I am looking for post-doctoral fellows. Trainees will be actively involved in the translational research effort pertaining to understanding the physiological and/or pathophysiological role(s) of the serine protease family, granzymes, in the context of skin or vascular inflammation regeneration, in aging, autoimmune and/or chronic disease. Granzymes are a family of 5 serine proteases in humans. With the exception of GzmA and GzmB, very little is known about the other 3 proteases so there are many opportunities to carve out a niche, drug development, and for publications/patents. The job is highly translational and well suited for trainees seeking greater involvement in all steps in taking basic bench research discoveries through to clinical application and potentially commercialization. Our research program spans from basic biochemistry/molecular biology through to target validation, proof-of-concept in animal and human models with a strong connection to industry. Trainees will be responsible for designing and implementing studies to further elucidate mechanisms of disease through the use of in vitro and in vivo models. Dr. Granville’s laboratory (www.granzymes.com) utilizes a variety of disease models related to aging, autoimmunity, injury, inflammation and impaired healing as they pertain to cardiovascular, pulmonary, skin, musculoskeletal, and neuroinflammatory disorders. We also interact heavily with industry and clinicians. I am particularly looking for post-docs within their first 3 years post-PhD with wound healing expertise.

Research Interests: Host-pathogen, Biodiversity, Rapid evolution infection, Immunity, Inflammation Viruses

Research Interests: Child Development, Children's Health, Developmental Disabilities, Exercise for Children, Health Services Research, Opioid Abuse and Addiction, Rehabilitation, Translational Medical Research, Knowledge Translation