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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Dr. Asadian investigated the impact of involving patients and community members in the education of health professional students. Through years of practice in teaching, research, and evaluation, she has contributed to the understanding of ways to enhance education and learning. | Doctor of Philosophy in Human Development, Learning, and Culture (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Magalhães studied the importance of tree species interactions in projecting the effects of climate change on forests. She designed software to predict tree growth similar to the way that Google predicts e-mail sentences. Her research highlights the relevance of competition to accurately simulate tree growth responses to climate change. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Miranda Barrios documented Latin American exiles' use of radio to recreate cultural and political identities and forge solidarity in a west coast Canadian context. Her work sheds light on the efforts of diasporic groups to use bilingual community media to engage diasporic and non-diasporic audiences in social, cultural, and political issues. | Doctor of Philosophy in Hispanic Studies (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Saket solved a long-standing trade-off in the design of high-frequency transformers for power supplies and battery chargers. His approach makes it possible to design transformers that are highly efficient and have a minimal noise emission. This proposed method will lead to a new era of compact and efficient power converters. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Barrero carried out a multi-scale study on the cyclic liquefaction of granular soils. He analyzed the mechanisms involved in the loss of grain contacts and developed a model for reliable simulation of liquefaction-induced deformations. His findings improve our ability to predict the behaviour of granular materials during liquefaction. | Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Nkansah-Boadu studied the treatment of selenium-contaminated coal mine-affected water using microbial consortia from mine-affected sediments. He discovered novel selenium-reducing bacteria and selenium removal pathways. His findings contribute knowledge for designing systems for remediating selenium-contaminated mine waters. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Wong studied the properties of flexible proteins that are not folded prior to binding. These proteins play critical roles in signaling and regulation by interacting with other proteins. He created a computational predictor for protein sites that bind to these flexible proteins and explored their relationship with disease-causing mutations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Beetch studied how natural compounds derived from diet, namely a class of polyphenols found in grapes and blueberries, can reverse aberrant DNA methylation patterns that underlie cancer. Her findings show that these compounds exert anti-cancer effects through epigenetic gene regulation, which can be used in cancer prevention and therapy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Human Nutrition (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Oyinlola studied the effects of climate change on global seafood production. His findings show that increasing greenhouse gases will negatively affect mariculture production in many regions of the world, particularly the tropics and sub-tropical regions. This research supports continuous mariculture related research and industry applications. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Atkins developed a new type of practical display to simulate the visual sensation provided by a window overlooking a distant space. This research will help inform the design of indoor environments such as shopping malls, working spaces, and living spaces, especially in underground and confined locations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Bolen studied the role of the five primary senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste) in contemporary québécois literature. Her research examines the fascinating, albeit complex, relationship between sensory memory and storytelling in novels written by "migrant" writers. | Doctor of Philosophy in French (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Malladi developed mathematical models to optimize short-term biomass logistics and analyzed the impacts of carbon pricing policies on optimal cost and emissions of the models. The developed models were validated and applied to two case studies. The results will help logistics companies make more informed decisions for their short-term planning. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Leung studied the role of proline isomerase Pin1 in prostate cancer. His research describes the interaction of Pin1 with the androgen receptor N-terminal domain and how targeting both of these proteins could reduce tumour growth. These findings enhance our understanding of the androgen receptor and aid in the development of novel therapies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Lix studied and improved a new type of ultrabright fluorescent probe called polymer dots that are used in bioanalysis and imaging. She investigated how these materials interact with other fluorescent materials. Her research will be used to develop new technologies that will enable medical diagnosis at the point-of-care. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Siksik developed a machine learning-based framework for modeling cellular ion channels. This opens the door for new types of experiments that were previously computationally prohibitive. The framework has the potential to reduce the cost of drug development and enable advanced medical research focused on understanding ion-channel diseases. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Pesteie explored machine learning algorithms to improve image-guided procedures in healthcare. He devised models that can learn from partial or limited expert supervision in environments, where data annotation is costly and time consuming. His methods can provide automatic feedback for more accurate decision making in clinics. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Kwan investigated new approaches to reduce cost and increase performance for water electrolysis. The development of new methods will more accurately quantify degradation, performance, and efficiency, using modified electrochemical setups. His research will lead to improved water electrolyzers for a greener and more sustainable future. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Kielstra examined the effects of environmental variability and land cover on stream ecosystems. He found that improved prediction of ecological threats depends on the indicator, and that incorporating multiple scales can increase predictive ability. This work will help ecologists to better predict and understand important threats to ecosystems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Wu studied the signaling transduction pathways in plant immunity. His work revealed novel regulatory mechanisms governing the activation of plant immune receptors, which may contribute to the engineering of broad-spectrum resistance in crops. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. de Zwaan demonstrated that parental care among alpine songbirds can buffer nestlings against extreme weather and predation risk, improving early-life growth conditions and benefitting survival and life-time fitness. A capacity to respond to variable constraints has critical implications for the future of birds under rapid environmental change. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Van de Vondervoort examined the contexts in which children positively evaluate helpful versus unhelpful individuals. Her work contributes to our understanding of children's social and moral cognition. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Abdelsalam developed a lightweight protective system to help shallow underground structures withstand blast attacks. Using an advanced validated numerical model, his findings show that these composite reinforced concrete panels, which are inexpensive and easy to repair, help to dissipate blast energy and prevent structures from being damaged. | Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Babanezhad's research explored optimizing parameters for machine learning algorithms, like those used in data processing, focusing specifically on computational cost. His proposed method, which he has tested on a new set of constraints and machine learning models, can train models in less time and achieve better results than previous methods. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Verma explored fundamental silt behavior and various parameters that affect its behavior under earthquake loading. Through extensive laboratory testing, he produced an experimental database which will serve to enhance and refine the current state of knowledge about the behavior of silts under earthquake loading. | Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Carter explored the variation between individuals in endurance exercise performance during acute exposure to altitude by examining the impact on the pulmonary vasculature. His findings show the effect of simulated altitude on sleep quality and athletic performance, as well as the role of sildenafil in endurance cycle performance. | Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology (PhD) |