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 | Program |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Dr. Casquilho Resende developed statistical models to better understand localized weather regimes in complex geographical regions. Her design strategy for monitoring networks provides critical data for both scientists and governmental agencies, contributing to the surveillance of environmental processes and further understanding Earth's climate. | Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Yule's research focused on how human asexuality, defined as a lack of sexual attraction, is best conceptualized. She investigated mental health correlates of asexuals, compared asexuality with sexual dysfunction, and explored sexual fantasy among asexual individuals. This research has greatly advanced our understanding of asexuality. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Zafari developed state-of-the-art decision-analytic models to evaluate four major care gaps in respiratory medicine, primarily in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). His PhD research provides a framework for future research advancements in precision medicine in COPD. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Shahriari contributed to the increasingly relevant field of Bayesian optimization and sequential experimental design. His work explores automatically tuning experiments in order to avoid tedious labour often reserved for graduate students, lab technicians, and other highly qualified personel. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Cairns studied forced migrant craftspeople from the Sudetenland and their resettlement in Bavaria after 1945. Her work explores how governments used the Sudetenlanders' initiatives to rebrand West German national identity and market consumer goods. She demonstrates migrant agency and the power of small scale industries to improve communities. | Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD) |
| 2016 | X-ray computed tomography is a central tool in medicine. A continuing concern is that the radiation can be harmful to the patient. Dr. Karimi showed that new mathematical techniques can be used to produce high-quality computed tomography images while reducing the radiation. His findings can benefit the health of the general public. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Ferguson challenged the common understanding of the term transgender, revealing its imprecise and exclusionary nature and, using feminist methodologies and autoethnography, theorized a new intertextual and interdisciplinary approach to gender studies beyond woman/female and man/male. | Doctor of Philosophy in Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Madden studied teacher identity in relation to the emergent field of Indigenous education. She focused on teachers' processes, priorities, and preparedness as they navigated Faculties of Education and schools. Her work enhances our understanding of knowledge-practice across institutions, and has widespread and immediate applications for practice. | Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Hu developed a technique to measure the molecular structures of water surfaces. She applied this technique to investigate how the ordering and orientation of water molecules were affected by the electric field imposed by different surfactants. Her findings provide new insights into sustaining clean water sources. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Chen's work focused on developing lipid nanoparticles for improved drug delivery. In particular, he developed safer and more effective nanoparticles to enable clinical use of genetic drugs for previously untreatable diseases. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Cao's doctoral studies focused on the design and synthesis of shape-shifting molecules. These molecules give rise to changes in either light absorption or emission colours, which can be used to distinguish different chemical and biological environments. His findings may contribute to new smart light-harvesting materials and new fluorescent dyes for study of neurological degenerative diseases. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Trane characterized a novel therapeutic target by studying the interaction between two proteins found in blood vessels involved in heart disease development. His work will hopefully help create new drugs that can be used to treat cardiovascular problems such as stroke, heart attacks and high blood pressure. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Bitter completed his doctoral research in the field of atomic, molecular and optical physics. He used sequences of ultra-short laser pulses to study and control chaotic motion in rotating molecules. Controlling chaos has far reaching implications for the ultimate prospect of using light to control chemical reactions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Jiang investigated positive self-illusions in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Findings showed that these children do not appear to overestimate their social abilities. This study increases insight into the self-perceptions of children with ADHD, and informs clinical approaches to furthering child and family well-being. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Frazier examined time series of satellite imagery to detect post-fire and post-harvest forest recovery in Canadian boreal forests. His results showed that satellite imagery can detect notable differences in forest recovery between regions and over time. This research helps us better understand how the boreal forest is potentially being affected by a changing climate. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Pesarchuk characterized a novel role for the protein MCL-1 in regulating chromatin architecture and promoting DNA repair. This work adds to the understanding of MCL-1's multifunctionality and presents a new way to target this protein in the treatment of the numerous types of cancer known to depend on it. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Gilbert investigated the population genetics of complex demographic history. She compared methods for estimating effective population size and examined the impact on local adaptation during range expansion. These studies improve our understanding of natural populations and their abilities to adapt to new and changing environments. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2016 | When someone is unsure about the truth of a statement, they may have a partial belief; for example the belief that the probability of rain tomorrow is three out of ten. Dr. Lukits defended the claim that rational agents update their partial beliefs by ensuring that they respect evidence without gaining more information from it than necessary. | Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Friedrich described the contextualized literacy practices of families within a community of resettled Karen refugees as they participated in a bilingual family literacy program. Her study generates insights that will assist family literacy educators in delivering culturally and linguistically diverse programming within this community. | Doctor of Philosophy in Language and Literacy Education (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Busta studied the structures and biosynthesis of the wax compounds that cover plant surfaces. He found that wax coverings vary greatly between plant species, plant organs, and even plant cell types. His findings suggest that wax biosynthesis plays a significant role in optimizing each plant surface for its distinct local environmental condition. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Hobenshield explored the Indigenous practice of gift giving. Her research identified specific Indigenous principles embedded within this tradition that inform a particular way of knowing. This information can be used to support the work of Indigenization in post-secondary education. | Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy (EdD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Narcisse examined the outstanding land issue in British Columbia from the indigenous perspective. She found that while the circumstances of colonialism were prevalent, the oral history about the inherent indigenous land ownership has remained consistent over several generations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Li studied how international trade affects human capital accumulation and consequently alters regional comparative advantage and industry specialization. Using the data from China, she found that export expansion between 1990-2005 led to a regional divergence in educational attainment, and such amplified differences across regions reinforce the initial industry specialization pattern. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Christian studied how changes in the extracellular matrix regulate the expression of genes that are linked to cancer progression. She showed that two focal adhesion proteins, FAK and talin, are important for these gene expression changes. Her work could contribute to the development of new drugs for treating cancer. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Laursen studied how people historically experience and make knowledge about elusive phenomena. Focusing on twentieth-century British and American poltergeist cases, he found that research best advanced through active collaborations of those who experienced the phenomenon. His work contributes new directions to studying the boundaries of knowledge. | Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD) |