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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Dr. Selman examined the lasting impact of the compassion of strangers. She describes how it broadens perspectives of strangers, builds gratitude, and positively alters one's sense of self. She presents her work as an a/r/tographer, an innovative means of demonstrating the value of addressing and appreciating the role of compassion in our lives. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Hochbaum explored the extent to which child characteristics determine parental disciplinary behaviours. She showed that mothers respond to increasingly socially competent children by rewarding them more and punishing them less. The findings of her study strongly suggest that child characteristics contribute significantly to parenting behaviour. | Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Bhinder studied the dynamic changes occurring in the intestine during newborn development and in response to food poisoning. She found that signalling within the intestinal lining and resident bacteria were critical to achieve optimal health in her models. These findings provide new insights into promoting the health of vulnerable populations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. D'souza examined the role of the hormone leptin on body weight and blood glucose levels. She assessed the role of leptin signalling on insulin secretion and the significance of insulin levels when leptin is absent. These studies have further expanded our knowledge of leptin function in the context of obesity and type 2 diabetes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Addison examined the avoidance of health information in people with health concerns. She showed that limiting methods, such as filtering and delegating, were particularly common in cases where people felt fear, disinterest, or distrust. Her work will contribute to our understanding of how we manage and experience health issues. | Doctor of Philosophy in Library, Archival and Information Studies (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Pollard investigated the role of a shared approach to decision making within the context of asthma treatment. The results of her work support the use of individualized care plans for asthma patients as well as the involvement of a multidisciplinary team throughout the treatment decision-making process. | Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Moon designed robots to move in communicative ways so they can better coordinate their actions with people. She developed a way for robots to hesitate in human-inspired ways when they encounter conflicts with people. Her work demonstrates that robots can be designed to negotiate with people in an intuitive, efficient, and safe manner. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | The doctoral studies of Dr. Perry focused on the development of environmentally friendly catalysts to generate amines. These nitrogen containing molecules could be efficiently transformed into new plastics with tunable properties. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Beikahmadi studied solid-state radiation detectors, devices that measure the level of an ion charge. He developed a methodology for designing low-power and low-noise readout circuits of these detectors. His work has broad application in several areas including the field of gamma ray and x-ray spectrometry. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Aaron developed new techniques to understand the mechanisms governing flow-like landslides, as well as methodologies to predict their motion. This research has resulted in practical tools that can be used to protect society from certain landslide hazards. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Dickman examined the serum of individuals with oral cancer to detect molecules that could be used in an early diagnosis test. He also found that similar molecules are secreted from cancer cells to alter the tissue around them to promote tumor growth. His work will have significant impact on oral cancer diagnosis and treatment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Pakula's research provided the first national estimates for mental health disorders among gay, lesbian, bisexual and heterosexual Canadians. Her analysis revealed sexual minorities face a disproportionate mental health burden, linked to stress and isolation. Her research is informing the elimination of mental health disparities. | Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Mohamadi designed and developed a collection of novel algorithms and software tools for the analysis of massive bioinformatics data. Theses algorithms and software tools are publicly available for free to facilitate research at health and life sciences laboratories and other organizations worldwide. | Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Globa's work has demonstrated that drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, impact how brain cells communicate with one another at specialized points of contact called 'synapses'. Her work specifically shows that synaptic connections must be malleable or 'plastic' to promote behaviours associated with addiction in mice. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2017 | The world is full of mixtures of unobserved source signals. Dr. Zou's doctoral studies focused on recovering the underlying source signals from a limited number of observations. His proposed methods can be utilized in a wide class of physiological signals for artifact removal and for better interpretations of these signals. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Mills investigated the tensions former high-performance figure skaters experienced in their training and competition. She used narrative inquiry to help collect and report participant's stories. Her findings support the need for critical conversations about the normalizing conditions in figure skating and their cost on participant well-being. | Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Tavassoli developed novel data mining methods to study a range of complex materials, from pulp samples to cancer cells. This work has applications in many industries, particularly benefiting pulp makers as the unique combination of techniques offers insights to improve the accuracy of predicting product properties of the variety of raw materials. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Mysore Balasubramanya proposed novel, cost-effective enhancements to the power saving mechanism currently adopted by the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. The proposed solutions address battery operated Machine Type Communication (MTC) devices, especially those in low network coverage and result in improved energy efficiency, thus increasing their battery life. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Lee-Sayer studied how interaction with the environment influences the function of blood cells. Specifically, she investigated the ability to interact with hyaluronan. This work has highlighted the importance of hyaluronan in regulating the development and function of blood cells. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Tumors, within the endocrine system, are difficult to detect as well as treat. Dr. Blanc developed a novel method producing unique bioactive peptides. This process paves the way for improved therapeutics and imaging agents, particularly against aggressive and lethal cancers. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Lo studied the cellular components of tissue fibrosis - a chronic and degenerative disease with limited treatment options. His work identified inflammatory and vascular factors, which can be modulated to potentially promote repair processes. These findings offer an avenue for therapeutic intervention in fibrotic diseases. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Moghadam-zadeh studied mineral process engineering. She developed a test procedure to evaluate the advantages of high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR), an application for extracting precious compounds. This test procedure will replace conventional techniques with energy-efficient methods in the early stages of industrial project studies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mining Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Mumuni studied teacher practices in kindergarten classrooms, in Ghana. His findings revealed that teaching practices were developmentally appropriate, making learning meaningful through contextually relevant language of instruction, age-and culturally-appropriate learning materials, and the use of storytelling, traditional songs and traditional rhymes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies (PhD) |
| 2017 | In response to the common underperformance of smallholder afforestation programs, Dr. Baker developed a novel theory to explain how smallholder farmers make their forestland-use decisions in two regions of Nicaragua. His research provides a basis for improving the design of smallholder afforestation programs for many regions of the world. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2017 | The extent to which tropical forests change after the harvesting of trees is not clear. Dr. Addo-Danso's research showed that the forest structure, biomass and productivity in a tropical forest in Ghana recovered to pre-harvesting levels 54 years after the trees were cut. His findings have important implications for the management of tropical forests. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |