A doctoral citation summarizes the nature of the independent research, provides a high-level overview of the study, states the significance of the work and says who will benefit from the findings in clear, non-specialized language, so that members of a lay audience will understand it.
| Year | Citation | NID |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Dr. Woodsworth developed a cell-to-cell delivery system, in which a therapeutic molecule is inserted into a delivery cell, carried to a disease site and transferred to a specific target cell. This will allow for smart, active therapeutic devices capable of engaging directly with the fundamental cellular and molecular causes of disease. | Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy (MDPhD) |
| 2019 | Phosphorus is recovered from wastewater as a compound called struvite. Dr. Fromberg studied how struvite pellets form and how to maximize pellet-formation in UBC's previously pioneered, phosphorus-recovery technology. Maximizing yield increases the value of the technology, and results in greater recovery of this valuable and dwindling resource. | Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Matejova examined environmental disasters and their effects on nonviolent protest. She argues that uncertainty about disaster impacts plays a crucial role in the protest mobilization process. Her findings can be used to improve disaster communication practices, and open opportunities for resolution of social conflict. | Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science (PhD) |
| 2019 | Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology is gaining attention in a variety of computer applications, but is challenged by resource intense debugging processes. Dr. Eslami worked on enhancing existing verification and debugging techniques to help designers identify functional bugs and ensure the correct functionality of designs implemented on FPGAs. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Lawlor investigated mindfulness, self-compassion, and well-being in a group of early adolescents. She found that mindfulness and self-compassion had differing relations to indicators of well-being. Results suggest that mindfulness may serve as a protective factor, while self-compassion may have a promotive role in early adolescent well-being. | Doctor of Philosophy in Human Development, Learning, and Culture (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Overmars explored Indigenous peoples' experiences in the workplace, identifying factors that help and hinder wellbeing. This research highlights unique considerations for Indigenous people, such as connection to culture at work, and provides a perspective that challenges negative narratives of Indigenous peoples' experiences at work. | Doctor of Philosophy in Counselling Psychology (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Li characterized a new-in-class NMDA receptor positive allosteric modulator. The new drug has applications as a research tool and potential therapeutic in psychiatric and neurological disorders. | Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy (MDPhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Dettelbach demonstrated how ultraviolet light could be used to produce a silver-copper alloy that is difficult to obtain through commonly used methods. This alloy has applications toward clean energy conversion. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Liu Baergen examined a pivotal Canadian curriculum scholar's life and work within its historical, societal and intellectual context. Her research brings forth new understanding and invites other scholars to engage in studies that further contribute to the field of Canadian curriculum studies in all its particularity. | Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies (PhD) |
| 2019 | Aberrant telomere length maintenance can lead to premature aging disorders. Dr. Xu studied genetic modifiers of telomere maintenance and revealed their contributions to the variable manifestations in telomere biology disorders. This study will help to build individualized models for the prediction of short telomere-associated disease presentations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical Sciences (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Berseth developed new methods for controlling the movement of simulated characters and robots. Using machine learning methods, he developed control structures that allow for more efficient learning as well as the integration of multiple motion skills. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Siren completed her doctoral studies in the field of biomaterials chemistry. She studied how naturally occurring polymers at the blood vessel surface influence the immune response. These findings led to the development of a synthetic polymer-based therapeutic which was used to suppress the onset of organ rejection with reduced side-effects. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Yousefi developed mathematical tools for formal safety verification of autonomous systems. Using this technique, he demonstrated the safety of automated anesthesia drug delivery systems. The proposed tools may facilitate the process of obtaining regulatory approval for automated drug delivery systems and their emergence in hospitals | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Ashtari evaluated the performance-based seismic design provisions of the 2014 Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code for reinforced concrete bridges. She identified, for the first time, the challenges of implementing the provisions in practice and addressed them with regards to design framework, performance criteria, analysis, and performance verification. | Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Lam investigated how post-childhood linguistic experience affects the way bilingual adults perceive speech sounds. In a Cantonese word identification experiment, Cantonese speakers who grew up in Canada used different listening strategies from those who grew up in Hong Kong. These results advance our understanding of bilingual competence. | Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Soong used DNA sequencing and mouse models to characterize drug sensitivities in cancer cells with faulty DNA repair machineries. Altogether, this study increased our understanding of the additional function of a pre-existing drug, with novel potential therapeutic targets. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Eltit explored the mechanisms of medical implants failure. His project described the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which patients develop adverse reactions to metal elements. The conclusions of his work will lead to the introduction of new therapeutic strategies in orthopaedic surgery. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Vaswani designed data-driven algorithms for better decision-making under partial or incomplete information. These algorithms have wide-ranging applications from designing better clinical trials to computational advertising and marketing in social networks. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Fenneman revised the taxonomy of two genera of plants in the sunflower family, and developed novel criteria for the defining of these species in British Columbia. These developments will help to better understand the biodiversity of the province, and provide a stronger framework for species conservation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Keshavarzfathy developed a computational model to simulate the performance of ultraviolet light emitting diode (UV-LED) reactors for water treatment. He subsequently applied the model to several UV-LED reactor concepts. His work increases our understanding of the design and optimization of UV-LED reactors. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Meents characterized plant Golgi during secondary cell wall formation, helping to explain how many essential molecules are made in the cell. Dr. Meents also employed education research to compare different teaching techniques in cell biology classes, leading to significant improvement in problem solving instruction in courses at UBC. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Ruocco developed a new analytical model for exploring the effects of quantum coherence in macroscopic systems. He found that in certain photosynthetic systems, quantum mechanics can play a significant role in facilitating highly efficient energy transfer. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2019 | Adult stem cells are a central theme in the rapidly expanding field of regenerative medicine. Dr. Scott has used a genetic marker to characterize a stem cell that is present in all adult tissues and identified a mechanism that allows these cells to remain dormant until they are required for tissue maintenance and repair. | Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Yumagulova examined how cities and regions can build their resilience to disasters and climate change using the Metro Vancouver region as her case study. Her research shows the importance of collaboration and learning to ensure coordinated, multi-level governance of risk. | Doctor of Philosophy in Planning (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Lever developed methods to extract biomedical knowledge from published academic papers. Working at BC Cancer's Genome Sciences Centre, he used machine learning approaches to find genetic information useful to clinicians treating cancer patients in a personalized way. His results are accessed daily by cancer researchers around the world. | Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) |