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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Dr. Wilcox showed that the presence of a functional protein is required for survival past the blastocyst stage of development and that this protein is important in regulating immune responses. These studies provide further insight into how immune responses are controlled and may provide a target for autoimmune disease drug therapy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr Kolosova studied conifer defense responses to weevil attack and pathogenic blue stain fungi. Her research on the genome level revealed massive responses in conifer trees to these forest health threats and resulted in identifying molecular traits potentially important for conifer disease resistance. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Sanin examined the cyclic and post-cyclic behavior of natural silts with low plasticity. She found that liquefaction with sudden loss of strength would not occur in such silts under earthquake loading. Her research work also led to an approach to estimate the settlements due to earthquake. | Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) |
| 2011 | Using quantitative and qualitative methods, Dr. Shandro's research demonstrated that British Columbia mining communities face unique challenges related to the economic mining cycle, including: population fluctuations, economic dependency and vulnerability, increases in disease rates, equal employment and income opportunities for women, and strains to health service delivery. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mining Engineering (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Saunders developed a non-contact optical diagnostic technique to analyze gas composition in reacting flows. Using this technique it was possible to observe the gaseous reactions of methane/steam reformation at high temperatures. The tools that Dr. Saunders has developed have applications in solid oxide fuel cell research and development. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Pougatch developed mathematical models and computer codes to simulate complex multiphase flows. He applied these models to a bitumen upgrading process to better understand liquid distribution in the reactor and jet-particle interactions, and to optimize the design of nozzle injectors with gas assisted atomization. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Azizi examined designing new microstructures for low-carbon steels suitable for car bodies. He proposed a new approach to refine the structure of these steels resulting in improved properties. These improvements can potentially reduce weight and gas emission in automotives. | Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Engineering (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Nobre Silva studied the isotopic compositions of basalts from two major hotspot tracks, Hawaii and Ninetyeast Ridge in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, respectively. By carefullly preparing the samples, her analysis was able to identify distinct mantle components intrinsic to their deep mantle sources. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr Li studied efficient numerical solvers for the time-harmonic Maxwell equations and incompressible magnetohydrodynamic problems. She developed parallel solvers for the Maxwell equations in complex 3D domains. She also proposed a new finite element method for magnetohydrodynamics problems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Gao demonstrated the importance of a protein degradation pathway in the replication process of a virus. Blocking this pathway can decrease inflammation of the heart muscle caused by viral infection in mice. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Chen separated and characterized Maillard reaction products with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities from a glucose-lysine model. This study showed that Maillard reaction products could be used to protect against intestinal inflammation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Food Science (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Blachford showed that sexual reproduction gains an evolutionary advantage by dampening the good and bad luck had by individuals. He also explained why small mammals diminish their lifetime reproduction during and after a population crash, and how this strategy can be cued from activity of neighbours rather than from the actual mortality agents. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Walker investigated the nature of and reasons behind recent adult literacy policy reform in New Zealand. Her research illuminates how different interest groups, and current and historical policies and political ideologies, came together to form substantive economic and social policy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Azadi developed three novel controller design methods that can significantly improve the performance of control systems. He showed that these methods outperform the conventional controller design methods in various industrial and academic control systems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Dugal-Tessier designed and synthesized an unprecedented class of chiral ligands based on the phosphaalkene motif. He also showed the practical utility of these ligands by obtaining high selectivities in an organic transformation. His research could fill an important gap in ligand design with applications ranging from the polymer to the pharmaceutical industry. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Kozak contributed to the development of environmentally friendly carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions catalytic in platinum, gold or silver salts. These reactions produced nitrogen-containing molecules of significant interest in drug discovery and the pharmaceutical industry. She successfully applied an example of her inventions in the construction of the biological molecule named fawcettidine. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr Kulic identified RBPJ as a protein that is able to suppress tumor growth. This research shows that RBPJ is inappropriately absent in breast cancer and other cancer types and that loss of this protein aids cancer growth by increasing survival of tumor cells. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Kuchison investigated the optical and electronic properties of new metal complexes with conjugated ligands. The metal-conjugated material interactions in these complexes provide valuable knowledge of hybrid materials and insight towards their potential applications in chemical sensing and light-harvesting. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Zeng studied the biological and molecular functions of MAP kinase cascades in plant development. Her work has expanded the understanding of the regulatory network in controlling plant root architecture and pollen formation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Hadizadeh developed a theory that describes the statistics of the protein folding and polymer collapse processes. Her theory was used to study the effect of dense cellular environment on the folding of proteins whose proper function is essential for life. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Roy developed new synthetic techniques to fabricate and process nanomaterials composed of metal atoms bridged by organic linkers. By designing molecular building blocks that self-assemble in solution, Dr. Roy was able to prepare metal-organic coordination polymers with previously inaccessible nanostructures and compositions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Pina developed a methodology for the seismic risk assessment and risk reduction of schools in British Columbia. It provides a better understanding of how risk can be deaggregated according to earthquake types and how site conditions can be incorporated in probabilistic risk assessment. His ready-to-use methodology can determine whether or not a retrofit is required for schools. | Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Foroud studied a fungal disease of wheat known as Fusarium Head Blight. She contributed to the understanding of mechanisms of disease resistance by oserving that different molecular mechanisms of resistance are conferred in different genetic backgrounds. This knowledge will help breeders to select better resistance for wheat farmers. | Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Science (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Bergstrom showed that goblet cells, the main mucus-producing cells in the intestinal tract, play a critical role protecting the intestine against pathogenic bacteria. These results highlight a new role for goblet cells in host defense in the gut, and point to them as novel targets for therapy during bacterially-induced intestinal diseases. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Frost studied how a group of young Punjabi men from Surrey, British Columbia self-identified and how their identities in turn influenced their educational performances. Her research demonstrates the important role played by family and community in the lives of these young men and contributes to our understanding of the experiences of the Canadian-born children of one of Canada's largest immigrant groups. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geography (PhD) |