Sabrina Leslie

Sabrina Leslie is an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in the Michael Smith Laboratories and Department of Physics. Her research focuses on developing single-molecule microscopy tools to study biomolecular interactions in biologically relevant environments. She leads the Leslie Lab, which bridges physics, engineering, and biology to advance genetic medicines and vaccines.

Education

• BSc (Honours Physics and Mathematics), University of British Columbia (2002)
• PhD in Optical and Atomic Physics, UC Berkeley (2008)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, Harvard University (2009–2011)

Research Interests

Dr. Leslie pioneers the Convex Lens-induced Confinement (CLiC) imaging platform to visualize single molecules (DNA, RNA, proteins) and lipid nanoparticles in realistic cellular conditions. Her lab investigates nucleic acid dynamics, nanoparticle formulation for drug delivery, and single-cell analysis. Applications include improving mRNA vaccines and oligonucleotide therapeutics.

Key Awards

• Member of Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars (2020)
• NSERC Accelerator Award (2017–2020)
• Young Investigator Award, Canadian Biophysical Society (2019)

Advising & Collaborations

Her lab has trained over 50 students and postdocs. Collaborators include industry partners in biotechnology and nanotechnology. She co-founded ScopeSys to commercialize CLiC technology.

Labs & Teams

Based at UBC’s Michael Smith Laboratories, the Leslie Lab integrates interdisciplinary expertise. Ongoing projects include lipid nanoparticle characterization, single-molecule RNA studies, and CLiC-based diagnostics.