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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Dr. Terrett explored how older adults narrate and understand their experiences of being vitally engaged in living. With her participants, she collaboratively constructed ten common themes in living vitally. This research adds to the psychological and gerontological literature on positive growth and development in later life. | Doctor of Philosophy in Counselling Psychology (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Homma examined personal and socio-cultural factors associated with sexual activity among East Asian adolescents. Feeling connected to family, school, and culture substantially reduced the probability of sexual initiation even with risks such as alcohol use and sexual abuse. Results suggest sexual health education should be culturally tailored. | Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Imam studied how wind excites large-scale internal waves in lakes by linking wave excitation to lake bathymetry, stratification, and wind-forcing characteristics. The findings are important to understanding dispersion of nutrients and contaminants in lakes, to designing selective withdrawal facilities for reservoirs, and to sustainable management of our water resources. | Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Hannes Dempewolf examined the process of domestication of several crops in the Compositae family. He explored why some crops appear semi-domesticated and focused much of his work on the East-African oil-seed crop Noug. He also studied the influence of mating systems on the domestication process more generally. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Astanehe studied the molecular mechanisms involved in breast cancer pathology and chemotherapy resistance. His studiescontribute to describing breast cancer disease processes. He has also identified novel therapeutic targets to improve outcomes for women with breast cancer pathology with poor prognoses. | Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy (MDPhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Giles developed a rapid method for testing the role of genes in learning in the model organism, C. elegans. Using this new technique, he characterized the behaviour of over 500 genes, increasing our understanding of how genes function in the nervous system to allow organisms to learn. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Moss developed a quantitative method for classifying forest structures. Seventeen different classes were used to describe four dominant patterns of forest succession in interior Douglas-fir. Airborne laser scanning data was evaluated for stand structures in class inventory. This work improves our ability to recognize and communicate complex forest stand conditions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Aknin studied how everyday spending choices can influence a spender's happiness and well-being. Her research demonstrated that spending money on others leads to higher levels of happiness than spending money on oneself, as well as when these emotional benefits are most likely to occur. Her research helps illuminate that the complex relationship between wealth and well-being. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Hall engineered a system of time-lapse photography and growth analysis of plant stems to examine their development with unrivalled precision. His cell wall studies have revealed dynamic patterns in plant cell wall formation that will guide future research relevant to the bioenergy sector. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Creighton explored the experiences of young men following the accidental death of a friend. Her findings provide new insights into the way that masculinities, space, place and social discourse intersect to frame men's grief and risk practices. | Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Bingham showed that testosterone exposure during development in males is essential for normal functioning of neural systems involved in stress regulation in adulthood. Her research indicates that testosterone helps shape stress-related pathways in the brain, and that altering testosterone exposure during development may predispose some individuals to stress-related diseasess. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Dempsey studied evolving corporate governance regulation and standards of business conduct in multiple regimes. Her research contributes to corporate governance scholarship providing insight into ethical and legal foundations of responsible conduct and informed discourse among market, government and public stakeholders to address both financial and ethical dimensions of business. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Vahid combined agent-based simulation and optimization techniques to model the economic activities of coastal British Columbia's wood products industry. Her simulation model enables us to investigate the long-term impacts of introducing new facilities and alternative forest management policies on the performance of the industry. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Ng developed innovative computational methods for analyzing functional neuroimaging data. Through novel integration of prior knowledge in extending existing machine learning and sparse optimization techniques, Dr. Ng's thesis addressed a number of critical challenges hampering our understanding of the functional organization of the human brain. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Zhu discovered the novel function of a transcription factor KLF4 in the central nervous system. Dr. Zhu also identified that progranulin, a protein mutated during frontal-temporal lobe dementia, played a novel role in the context of inflammation and epilepsy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Pak investigated a family of human enzymes, present throughout our bodies, that transfers chemical groups onto proteins, in order to regulate cell growth and proliferation. Her research has shown how these enzymes can work together in cells, and has provided new therapeutic avenues for breast and prostate cancers. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical Sciences (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Cheung studied the medium access control problem in wireless networks, which include the communications among vehicles and roadside access points. His mathematical modeling and analysis provide guidelines on how to design efficient communication protocols for the next generation wireless networks. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Webster studied the deposition of crystalline yttrium oxide films. By controlling the crystal growth process, he was able to create thin films with a very high degree of structural perfection. The techniques developed in his work will help in the development of new solid state laser technology. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Jassem investigated antibiotic resistance in Burkholderia bacteria, highly virulent pathogens in cystic fibrosis patients and other compromised individuals. Her research on the induction of resistance and involvement of outer membrane features provides insight into acquired antibiotic (aminoglycoside) resistance in one such bacterium. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Alsaifi's research in the field of Chemical and Biological Engineering focussed on the very complex interactions among molecules. The results of his work have been tested successfully and are contributing to improved industrial processes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Chung discovered that the expression of a specific protein is required for the development of a unique subset of immune cells, and demonstrated that these cells are important for recognition of early viral infection. These findings improve our understanding of how the immune system recognizes and regulates virus replication. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Morin used new tools for reading the genome of human cancer cells, to find mutations previously unknown to be relevant to disease. Some mutations may offer new options for developing lymphoma drugs. Others should allow us to treat about 5% more children with leukemia who would not previously have been considered candidates for drug treatment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Donnelly explored the influence of oral health, body image, and social interactions of elders living in care facilities. Her findings expanded our understanding of how personal and environmental factors influence the social impact of oral conditions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Craniofacial Science (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Rizal studied ferromagnetic nanostructures. He subsequently developed highly sensitive magnetic sensors and high-moment biocompatible nanoparticles. The magnetic sensors and nanoparticles have significant potential for application in biomagnetic sensing for the early detection and treatment of chronic diseases such as prostate and lung cancer. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Veverytsa studied nerve cell development in the brain. She discovered a novel timing mechanism that is built into some neurons to trigger their functional maturation at a specific time, to change the brain circuit in which they operate. This has profound implications for understanding mental disorders such as schizophrenia. | Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD) |