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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Dr. Grigg defined molecular mechanisms by which the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus acquires growth-limiting iron from its host. This work defined molecular mechanisms that provide potential avenues for the development of new therapeutics. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Ng's doctoral research provides a mechanistic understanding of defects in human placentation. The molecules that Dr. Ng identified in his studies could also serve as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for pregnancy disorders such as miscarriage, intrauterine growth restriction and preeclampsia (hypertension during pregnancy). | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Fagbongbe studied women's engagement with the African regional human rights regime using a feminist Third World Approach to International Law analysis. She demonstrated the significance of adopting an interdependent and contextual understanding to the women's rights to invigorate the rights protected. Dr. Fagbongbe also emphasizes the role of stakeholders to achieve the objectives of the regime. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Chin discovered a novel social psychological phenomenon - that individuals feeling particularly uncertain about themselves are more inclined towards greater acts of goodwill. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Richardson articulated an arts-based approach to researching an individual's gifts and talents. In this way she showed how one's inner-gifts are expressed through one's emotional and relational contexts. Her work challenges objective and technical ways of understanding inner-gifts within the field of education. | Doctor of Philosophy in Special Education (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Pouladi's evaluated a number of pharmacological compounds as therapies for Huntington disease, a devastating and fatal inherited disorder that remains without a cure. Dr. Pouladi's preclinical studies identified one compound with potential benefits, and international efforts are currently underway to evaluate this compound in Huntington's disease patients. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Tsui examined the genetic changes during the development of oral cancer. She identified biomarkers predictive of progression risks in oral precancerous lesions, and elucidated the molecular mechanisms that are associated with progression to cancer. The research contributes to the understanding of the natural history of oral cancer development. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Anthony analyzed the global changes in protein concentrations in human cancer cells as these cells were undergoing programmed cell death, discovering previously unidentified alterations in the levels of some proteins. Since the aim of all cancer treatment is to induce cancer cells to die preferentially, this work has the potential to lead to new therapeutic approaches to cancer treatment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Abadir elucidated the interaction mechanisms between carbon nanotubes and amino acids through molecular dynamics and ab initio simulations, and showed that semi-metallic tubes can be used to selectively detect charged biomolecules. He also established rules for the choice of basis sets used in carbon-nanotube simulations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Chan examined the relationship between hydrodynamic conditions and fouling control in gas-sparged submerged hollow fiber membrane modules. Effective fouling control depended on the type of shear profile imposed on the membrane surface. These findings have implications on the optimal design of membrane systems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Ismail investigated the level of population structure of black cottonwood in British Columbia. He found three main groups of populations classified as north, interior, and south, with high level of gene flow. In comparison with other poplar species, Ismail found low level of nucleotide diversity. These results will assist in designing association genetics studies for economically important traits. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Roberts used numerical and outdoor physical scale modeling techniques to investigate the three-dimensional surface representation in measurement campaigns of the urban surface energy balance. The resulting measurement protocol can be adopted in future studies to guide the optimal siting of radiation and turbulence flux sensors | Doctor of Philosophy in Geography (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Cockle studied how the production and loss of tree cavities influences how cavity-nesting bird communities are organized. She showed that maintaining a diverse tropical bird community will require changing forestry practices to conserve large old living trees where natural decay processes create deep cavities used over multiple years. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Duran developed a computational model for simulating reactors that use UV radiation for decontaminating water. This computational tool will help design engineers to improve the performance of such reactors, and ultimately, it will contribute to the aim of giving everyone access to safe drinking water. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Luk contributed to our understanding of the biosynthetic pathways of natural products, such as morphine and lysergic acid, by characterizing the enzymes that participate in those pathways. These studies have provided fundamental insights into natural product biosynthesis and generated a wide spectrum of compounds that are potential drug analogs. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Page examined the politics of wilderness conservation leading to the identification and establishment of the Great Bear Rainforest in British Colubmia. Using Actor Network Theory, he explored the scientific, cultural, economic and political practices articulating an alternative to structured conflict among environmentalists, forest companies and First Nations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. McLaren examined the importance of plant species identity in determining the functioning of grassland ecosystems, in both northern Canada and the Negev Desert in Israel. Because species extinction rates are at unprecedented levels, this research is essential as it allows us to predict the effects of species loss. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Zhang has revealed the functional mechanisms of several medically important enzymes, including the protein hydrolyzing starch in human bodies. His research has potential impact on the design and optimization of future drugs for treating diabetes and obesity. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Ucar studied three topics in Industrial Organization. First, she developed a model of long-term contracts as barriers to entry with differentiated products. Second, she provided a theoretical justification for why consumers react to image advertising. Third, she found empirically that deceptive advertising is counter-cyclical. Each essay offers policy recommendations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Guo measured quality of life and treatment preferences among tuberculosis patients, which showed the impact of tuberculosis and its treatment from the patient?s perspective. This research could help inform the patient-centered health care management by understanding patients? personal preferences and values toward disease and treatment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical Sciences (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Bobowski developed and used custom microwave techniques to study the low-temperature electrodynamics of complex superconductors. The high-precision measurements made using these techniques furthered our understanding of the microscopic behaviour of these materials. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Muscat investigated identity change in elite athletes who experienced a career-ending injury. Her dissertation is the first research in this area; for the international athletes she interviewed, overinvestment in an athlete identity was associated postponement of age-appropriate identity tasks and with difficult retirement transitions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Counselling Psychology (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Soo studied equivariant factors of point processes. A Poisson process is a random scattering of points that can be used to model many diverse phenomenon. Dr. Soo provided a rule for thinning a Poisson process, where given a Poisson process one can generate another of lower intensity without any additional randomization. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Chow examined the immunoregulatory potential of a specific subset of immune system T-cells that exhibit characteristics of both non-specific and specific defense mechanisms. By harnessing the unique properties of these T cells, Dr. Chow's work uncovered a novel vaccine design strategy that can strengthen the immune response against microbial infections and cancer cells. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Grafton examined the agency of readers of Canadian literature in public programs held in libraries, on the radio, and online. Criticism of these contemporary programs often assumes that participants simply read what, when, and how they are told; however, she found that readers play a vital role in evaluating literature and producing literary canons. | Doctor of Philosophy in English (PhD) |