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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Dr. Winnick created and tested a new methodology for studying ancient Greek ethnicity. By treating the genealogies of the characters of Greek mythology as networks and using network theory to study them, he advanced scholars' ability to study Greek ethnicity with efficiency and depth. | Doctor of Philosophy in Classics (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Guan studied how people make sense of one other’s moral characters—their capacity for good and evil. Her research uncovered how, when supposedly good people act badly, this threatens our psychological sense that the world is a predictable and safe place. Her work sheds light on how beliefs about morality shape our interactions with others. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Bawafaa explored women’s experiences and perception of access to reproductive healthcare in rural Ghana. The study demonstrated that treating women as mere recipients of foreign knowledge is patronizing and overlooks existing knowledge systems that can be reconciled with best practices for desired outcomes. Findings call upon nurse leaders to restructure reproductive healthcare in rural Ghana. | Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Dmyterko developed a theory of neurodiversity-affirming practice based on the perspectives of 30 autistic adults. Her research emphasizes the importance of integrating the neurodiversity paradigm and social model of disability into clinicians’ approach, environment, and actions to better support neurodivergent individuals and their families. | Doctor of Philosophy in School and Applied Child Psychology (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Michelson developed methods to study large-scale cortical activity in the mouse during social and innate behaviors. His work has shown that the brains of two mice synchronize during social interaction and that cortical neuron activity represents subcortically mediated behaviors. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2025 | Where did the matter that forms our Universe come from? The answer to this question may lie in elusive properties of particles called electric dipole moments, or EDMs. Dr. Vanbergen's research on ultracold neutrons is part of a decades-long effort to measure the neutron EDM, and has advanced this effort towards an unprecedented level of precision. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Zhang's doctoral research focused on optical microscopy for biological imaging. He developed a novel spinning disk microscopy technique that enhances resolution and contrast, enabling real-time super-resolution imaging of thick samples such as cardiac cells. This work benefits biologists seeking accessible high-resolution imaging. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Yu studied parents’ process of seeking mental health services for their children. She developed a theory of help-seeking for parents of children with anxiety. Her results may help to inform policymakers and practitioners by highlighting the role of parental advocacy and mental health literacy when navigating the mental health system. | Doctor of Philosophy in Counselling Psychology (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Chou greatly improved GPU ray tracing performance through hardware and software co-design. By overcoming memory and performance bottlenecks, his work advanced real-time photorealistic rendering, enabling significant progress in applications such as gaming, virtual reality, and neural graphics. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Luthra studied how to model gene regulation from DNA sequence using machine learning models. Her work advanced our understanding of genome evolution and improved the development of predictive models through a novel evaluation framework. This research drives innovation in genomics and enables advances in personalized medicine. | Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Lam studied viral and cellular factors that regulate HIV latency. She identified a novel class of inhibitors of HIV expression that may provide a means to permanently silence persistent HIV infection. Her findings expand our understanding of viral latency and bring us closer to a functional cure for HIV. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Lahrsen’s research brings forestry into the digital age. By using smart technologies to track and improve how trees move through the forest supply chain, he’s helping us manage forests more efficiently and sustainably, preserving the vitality of today’s forests for the challenges of tomorrow. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Goodwin investigated how climate and herbivory influence plant population and range dynamics. She found that many species exhibit lagged range shifts and that climate influences the outcome of herbivory. Her work offers valuable insights into species' responses to climate change. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Lavington developed algorithms for training AI systems in simulated environments by leveraging privileged information available during simulation. His methods enabled faster and safer policy learning for complex tasks like autonomous driving and locomotion, advancing the path from simulation to real-world deployment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Gagnon examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on teaching practices, uncovering a heterogeneous acceleration in digital adoption, a redefinition of pedagogical beliefs, lasting changes in teaching modalities, and shifts in power dynamics over their adoption. His work advances understanding of educational transformation in times of crisis. | Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy (EdD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Lensink designed machine learning algorithms that mimic how natural systems change over time. He found that the resulting algorithms are more robust and efficient, enabling analysis of high-resolution medical images. His work helped hospitals analyze CT scans of COVID-19 patients during the pandemic. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Pichler investigated Mycobacterium abscessus lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients. She redefined clinical understanding by revealing phenotypic diversity in isolates and developing an infection model that predicts disease progression, laying the groundwork for personalised, outcome-driven care for chronic respiratory infections. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Hickey developed clinically practical methods for studying why knee replacements fail. Traditional study designs tend to be inefficient in studying this phenomenon. He developed new data analysis and medical imaging techniques which show a plausible pathway for the study of how implant placement effects the long-term survival of knee implants. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Baron explored how the legacies of forest management have disrupted fire regimes in interior British Columbia. She identified challenges in the ability of fuel and wildfire modelling systems to manage for departed forest conditions. Her findings are guiding changes to forest management and policy to restore fire-adapted landscapes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Iskander worked with trans and gender nonconforming preservice teachers to study normative gender expectations in Canadian teacher education programs. Their dissertation offered insight into how programs might better welcome gender diversity as well as what trans knowledge and experience might offer programs and the teaching profession. | Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Ahn studied the impact of education policy and reforms on the quality of education, school segregation, and labour market outcomes. Her research reveals the long-term benefits of school attendance boundary adjustments on students' outcomes and their neutral effects on school segregation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2025 | Schoolteachers have many overlapping, even conflicting, responsibilities, leaving them to navigate some way in between. Dr. Robertson studied how these tensions influence teachers’ curricular decision-making alongside students. He found a teacher’s individual judgment and style are key aspects of what we generally call ‘The Curriculum’. | Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Long explored how school leadership practices contribute to fostering a democratic way of life in a Western Canadian public school context. Dr. Long’s research showed that a set of context-dependent distributed leadership practices enacted by all school members brought about the conditions necessary for a democratic way of life to occur. | Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies (PhD) |
| 2025 | Working with Indigenous Peoples who use illicit drugs in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Dr. Lavalley co-developed a relational methodology rooted in Cree law. Her work centers experiential knowledge and highlights how IPWUID reimagine the Red Road through acts of care, resistance, and cultural resurgence. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Manoff explored how the experience of error in language learning can transform students’ subjectivity, since it discloses a tension between the requirement for students to learn the conventions of the new language and their need to challenge those very norms to express themselves linguistically. As such, it demands unique ethical attention. | Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies (PhD) |