Among the most critical elements of any doctoral exam, from the perspective of those who coordinate these complexities, is the search for a strong Chair. Yet this search serves as a perennial challenge to the Doctoral Examinations team. We consider ourselves very lucky indeed if we issue fewer than 10 invitations before confirming 1 chair for an upcoming exam. It is not at all unusual in some disciplines to invite 30 or more chairs before some gracious faculty member agrees to help us out.
If you would like to contribute your time and wisdom to UBC’s doctoral exams:
- Please have a look at the list of upcoming exams below and if one interests you, please send us an email to graduate.doctoral@ubc.ca
- Or send us an email detailing the areas that interest you and days/times that you might be generally available and we'll contact you as new exams are scheduled. Again, send an email to graduate.doctoral@ubc.ca
Please bear in mind that the chair cannot be affiliated with the candidate’s graduate program, or a member of the supervisor's department..
Thursday, November 13, 2025 12:30 PM - Room 203
Evan McKenzie
(Zoology)
The Mechanochemical Hydrostatic Organs of Chaoborus Larvae: Function Under Pressure
Supervisor(s): Professor Philip Matthews
Thursday, November 13, 2025 12:30 PM - Room 200
Rohit Murali
(Computer Science)
Predictive Models for Personalized Support Using Interaction Data in Open Learning Environments
Supervisor(s): Professor David Poole
Monday, November 17, 2025 12:30 PM - Room 200
Timothy Branch
(Physics and Astronomy)
Directional Anomalous Skin Effect in ReO3
Supervisor(s): Professor Douglas Bonn
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 1:00 PM - PCOH 1306A, Ponderosa Commons North, 6445 University Boulevard
Michael LeBlanc
(Educational Studies)
By the Bootstraps: Teachers, Grassroots Computing, and Educational Culture in British Columbia, 1966 to 1986
Supervisor(s): Professor Jason Ellis
Wednesday, November 19, 2025 2:30 PM - 311, Brimacombe Bldg, 2355 East Mall
Dong Chen
(Physics and Astronomy)
Defect-resolved Scattering in Quantum Materials: A Scanning Tunneling Microscope Study with Algorithmic Multi-Channel Deconvolution
Supervisor(s): Professor Douglas Bonn
Thursday, November 20, 2025 12:30 PM - Zoom
Quinn Boyle
(Experimental Medicine)
Neuromodulation for Opioid Use Disorder in Canada: Risks, Benefits, Values, and Justice
Supervisor(s): Professor Thomas Hudson Kerr
Monday, November 24, 2025 12:30 PM - Room 200
Daniel Ramandi
(Cell & Developmental Biology)
Sensorimotor Processing in Huntington Disease: From Behavior to Circuit
Supervisor(s): Dr Lynn Raymond, Professor Timothy Murphy
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 12:30 PM - Room 200
Spencer Cholak
(Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Investigation of RyR1 Allosteric Modulation through the Nucleotide Binding Pocket
Supervisor(s): Professor Sriram Subramaniam
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 12:30 PM - Zoom
Bukola Ibitoye
(Nursing)
A Framework for Non-Pharmacological Interventions for Adolescent Sickle Cell Crisis Pain Management in Nigeria
Supervisor(s): Professor Bernard Mark Garrett, Professor Manon Ranger
Wednesday, November 26, 2025 9:00 AM - Zoom
Rajeena Kumar
(Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education)
Can Intergroup Contact Theory Predict Discrimination by Counsellors and Psychologists Towards Sikhs Attempting to Access Psychotherapy? A Correspondence Audit Study
Supervisor(s): Professor Robinder P Bedi
Wednesday, November 26, 2025 1:00 PM - Zoom
Amirhossein Afshinfard
(Bioinformatics)
Data Mining Techniques for De Novo Genome Assembly
Supervisor(s): Professor Inanc Birol
Thursday, November 27, 2025 9:00 AM - Room 200
Heather Baker
(Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Mechanisms of Cytosolic Protein Degradation Explored through Missense Mutation Substrates
Supervisor(s): Professor Thibault Mayor
Thursday, November 27, 2025 9:00 AM - Room 203
Rae Morris
(Social Work)
Three Papers Examining Mental Health Service Provision with Autistic Adults in Canada
Supervisor(s): Professor Timothy Stainton
Thursday, November 27, 2025 12:30 PM - Room 200
Chloe Crosschild
(Nursing)
Iitsim'kaatsita: Enhancing Relations Between Indigenous Women and Registered Nurses. Journeying Toward Transformative Reconciliation To Foster Maternal Health Equity
Supervisor(s): Professor Colleen Varcoe
Friday, November 28, 2025 9:00 AM - 415, Peter A. Allard School of Law, 1822 East Mall
Oludolapo Makinde
(Allard School of Law)
Combating Foreign Bribery and Corruption: An Integrated Corporate Governance, Sustainability and Artificial Intelligence Approach
Supervisor(s): Professor Carol Liao
Friday, November 28, 2025 12:00 PM - Zoom
Matias Pinto Ahumada
(Mining Engineering)
A Multi-Agent Decentralized System for Prediction of Course-outs for Autonomous Trucks
Supervisor(s): Professor Ilija Miskovic, Professor Sanja Miskovic
Friday, November 28, 2025 12:30 PM - 4001, Forest Sciences Centre, 2424 Main Mall
Johanna Leoni Bock
(Forestry)
Urban Nature and Mental Health: Exploring the Role of Everyday Nature Interactions
Supervisor(s): Professor Lorien Nesbitt
Friday, November 28, 2025 12:30 PM - 146, ICICS, 2366 Main Mall
Chen Fan
(Computer Science)
Adaptive Step Sizes and Implicit Regularization in Optimization Models
Supervisor(s): Professor Mark Schmidt, Professor Christos Thrampoulidis
Friday, November 28, 2025 12:30 PM - Room 200
Leah Rankine-Wilson
(Microbiology and Immunology)
Leveraging Macrophage Acidification for Tuberculosis Drug Discovery
Supervisor(s): Professor Yossef Av-Gay
Monday, December 1, 2025 2:00 PM - 2101, Douglas T. Kenny Building, 2136 West Mall
Zahra Kheradmandsaadi
(Psychology)
Behavioral and Neural Correlates of Reading Difficulties: Cognitive Profiles, Resting-State Connectivity, and Intervention Outcomes
Supervisor(s): Professor Deborah Giaschi, Professor Hee Yeon Im
Wednesday, December 3, 2025 4:00 PM - Room 203
Nicholas Bard
(Botany)
Assessing the Ecological Importance and Host Plant Associations of Fungal Endosymbionts
Supervisor(s): Professor Jonathan Davies, Professor Quentin Cronk
Thursday, December 4, 2025 9:00 AM - Room 200
Jasleen Grewal
(Rehabilitation Sciences)
Virtual Reality for Activities of Daily Living Rehabilitation after Acquired Brain Injury
Supervisor(s): Professor Julia Schmidt
Thursday, December 4, 2025 9:00 AM - Room 203
Jiahong Hu
(Chemistry)
Quantum State Manipulation of Cold Molecules with Magnetic Fields
Supervisor(s): Professor Takamasa Momose
Thursday, December 4, 2025 9:00 AM - James Hogg Conference Centre, St Paul's Hospital, 1081 Burrard St
Katrina Leung
(MD/PhD Program)
Smooth Muscle Cell Lysosomal Acid Lipase in Atherosclerosis
Supervisor(s): Professor Gordon Francis
Thursday, December 4, 2025 9:00 AM - V2-221, Children & Women's Hosp Clinical Support, 4500 Oak St
Marina Vineta Paramo
(Obstetrics and Gynaecology)
Evidence Supporting Enhanced and Expanded RSV Immunization in Young Children
Supervisor(s): Professor Pascal Lavoie
Thursday, December 4, 2025 12:30 PM - 202, Chemical and Biological Engineering Building, 2360 East Mall
Akash Madhav Gondaliya
(Chemical and Biological Engineering)
Development of Sustainable and Industrially Viable Wood-Based Advanced Materials: Enhancing Functional and Structural Properties
Supervisor(s): Professor Johan Foster
Monday, December 8, 2025 9:00 AM - Room 200
Beth Roskilly
(Forestry)
Rangewide Climate Adaptation in Western Larch: Informing Assisted Migration and Breeding for Future Climates
Supervisor(s): Professor Sally Aitken
Monday, December 8, 2025 2:30 PM - 10206, Gordon & Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre, 2775 Laurel St
Jialin Han
(Experimental Medicine)
The Risk of Cancer and its Associated Risk Factors in Patients with Glomerular Disease. A Population-Based Study
Supervisor(s): Professor Adeera Levin, Professor Sean Barbour
Tuesday, December 9, 2025 1:30 PM - D219, Chemistry Bldg, 2036 Main Mall
Brandon Mcnabb
(Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences)
Improved Prediction and Physiological Understanding of Methylated Sulfur Cycling in the Northeast Subarctic Pacific and Southern Ocean
Supervisor(s): Dr Philippe Tortell
Tuesday, December 9, 2025 4:00 PM - Room 203
Kyrie Vermette
(Asian Studies)
Negotiating Everyday Encounters: Colonial Interactions between Korean, American, and Japanese Women in Korea, 1885-1945
Supervisor(s): Professor Nam-Lin Hur
Wednesday, December 10, 2025 9:00 AM - Zoom
Amel Algallaf
(Nursing)
Contextual Understanding of Challenges and Unmet Needs Among Arabs During Cancer Care in British Columbia
Supervisor(s): Professor Alison Phinney, Dr Sally Thorne
Thursday, December 11, 2025 12:30 PM - Room 200
Vanessa Johnson
(Dentistry)
Perspectives on Integrating an Oral Health Helpline into a Dental and Dental Hygiene School
Supervisor(s): Professor Leeann Donnelly
Friday, December 12, 2025 10:00 AM - 226, Michael Smith Laboratories, 2185 E Mall
Ryan Wong
(Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Fantastic Yeast and Where to Find Them: A Study of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Strain Diversity and Proteome Dynamics in Application to Recombinant Production of Laccase Enzymes
Supervisor(s): Professor Thibault Mayor
Friday, December 12, 2025 11:00 AM - Zoom
Mohammad Aliahmadi
(Chemical and Biological Engineering)
Development of Digital Twin for High Temperature Drying of Biomass
Supervisor(s): Professor Yankai Cao, Professor Shahab Sokhansanj
Friday, December 12, 2025 12:00 PM - 3113, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, 950 West 28th Avenue
Daniel Pasula
(Cell & Developmental Biology)
Roles of Bcl-xL and Mitochondrial Quality Control in Beta-cell Stress Resilience and Fate
Supervisor(s): Professor Dan Seriano Luciani
Monday, December 15, 2025 4:00 PM - Zoom
Ibukun Kayode
(Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program)
Experiences of Black African Immigrant Women in Accessing Primary Healthcare in British Columbia
Supervisor(s): Professor Antje Ellermann, Professor Bukola Salami
Tuesday, January 13, 2026 9:00 AM - Room 200
Spencer Knafelc
(Philosophy)
Truths and Untruths in Psychotherapeutic Theory and Practice
Supervisor(s): Professor Christopher Mole
Tuesday, January 20, 2026 12:30 PM - Room 200
Catherine Liao
(Nursing)
Burn Injuries in Underserved Communities: A Critical Ethnographic Study
Supervisor(s): Professor Colleen Varcoe