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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Dr. Marchetto has devised an improved technique for designing the magnets used to separate exotic nuclei for nuclear and astrophysics experiments. This allows mass selection even for masses whose separation is as small as one part in 20,000. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2018 | Circulating tumour cells are important targets for cancer research. Dr. Park developed a technology to enrich circulating tumor cells and then isolate them for genome sequencing. She then applied this technology to sequence single circulating tumor cells from patients with prostate cancer. This work will aid with early diagnosis. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2018 | Leishmania is a disease that affects 6 million people worldwide. Dr. Colineau studied the interaction of the leishmania parasite with its white blood cell host and identified two proteins that promote parasite intracellular survival. This research could one day lead to the development of new drugs to treat leishmania infection. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Cataldi characterized a new model of Parkinson's disease. He focused on early stages and causes of the disease, with the final goal to develop new, more efficient, therapies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2018 | An ongoing challenge in the automotive industry is controlling microporosity related defects. Dr. Fan's doctoral studies focused on porosity prediction in wheel casting and developed a method to predict hydrogen macrosegregation during solidification of the casting. This work can help increase overall quality and lower production costs. | Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Engineering (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Chara studied the impacts of agriculture on freshwater ecosystems. Her experiments demonstrated that insecticide toxicity may be amplified or mitigated by other agricultural disturbances, such as fertilizer and sediment inputs. Her research will inform the development of effective strategies to protect aquatic life in agricultural landscapes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Thomas studied topological aspects of Quantum Chromodynamics, the theory of strong nuclear force, in a simplified toy model. He showed how certain structures, which are believed to exist in the true theory, arise in the simplified model, and discussed how they could potentially answer some questions about how the universe works. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Muraca examined the risks to mothers and babies following forceps, vacuum, and cesarean delivery. Though increased use of forceps and vacuum is recommended to reduce cesarean delivery rates, Dr. Muraca argues that each of these procedures have associated risks and suggests an evidence-based, collaborative approach to selecting an intervention. | Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD) |
| 2018 | Drawing on various constructivist critical modalities, such as integral ecology, embodied philosophy, and affect theory, Dr. Rubel noted the continuing marginalization of the etho-ecological metaphysics of British Romantic poetry, circa 1790 to 1822. | Doctor of Philosophy in English (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Aprem developed a set of mathematical tools to detect change behaviour from online search data, to analyze the influence of meta-data on the popularity of YouTube videos, and to determine the most effective timing to run advertisements in live social media. His work has important implications on extracting intelligence and monetizing online social media. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Gordon studied the physics of strongly interacting elementary particles, performing detailed calculations in the framework of quantum field theory. He elucidated features of the quantum vacuum and generated predictions that enable precise tests of holographic duality, an important but conjectural relation between quantum theory and gravity. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Fahey's research took an interdisciplinary approach to studying media in order to examine different perspectives from which we remember the First World War in Canada. | Doctor of Philosophy in English (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Wang developed new computational methods to study the human brain from multiple sources. She applied her method to study brain anatomy and explored how different parts of the brain work together to execute certain functions. These results will improve our understanding of how the human brain works and how the brain is affected by diseases. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Suzuki studied how entanglement among internal degrees of freedom of a composite object can affect its interaction with the other physical objects. This study has applications to the fundamental questions of the transition from quantum to classical physics, quantum gravity, quantum computing, quantum chemistry and condensed matter physics. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Thomson studied population patterns of child and adolescent mental health. Her research shows that behaviour patterns observable in Kindergarten can predict mental health conditions and self-reported well-being up to 10 years later. Results suggest that addressing the social conditions in which children develop may promote child mental health. | Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Wilson studied modifications made to DNA in placentas to identify which pregnancies were at risk for complications such as preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction. She found that changes in the placental DNA could be used to classify some complications or used to identify new protein biomarkers in maternal blood during pregnancy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Mavraki studied Diophantine Geometry, a subject with a rich history. Her work uses insights from the young field of arithmetic dynamics, which studies number-theoretic questions arising from the iteration of self-maps. Findings involve small points in families of elliptic curves and generalize earlier results in the literature. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Chen identified three membrane-associated proteins involved in antioxidant pathways as potential storage quality markers for red cell concentrates. These protein biomarkers hint at the role of oxidative damage in transfusion product quality deterioration. Her research also provided insight into the management and delivery of blood products. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Wor explored the interactions between fish migration and fisheries management with a focus on Pacific hake. She developed two new modelling tools and a framework for fisheries management evaluation. Her work will aid future management of Pacific hake and many other fish species around the world. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Lau examined how sculpin fishes distributed along the marine intertidal zone deal with varying oxygen levels in their environment. Her research on different species revealed variation at the subcellular level where oxygen is used to power cellular activities but may also produce harmful byproducts. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Berkman measured properties of the pervasive tiny neutral particles called neutrinos with the T2K experiment. She developed a method to detect a second type of neutrino interaction. This method recovers neutrino events that were previously discarded and predicts a 40% increase in the total number of neutrinos used in analysis. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Molgat-Seon examined how aging affects sex-differences in the mechanics of breathing and the perception of breathlessness during exercise in healthy adults. His work contributes to advancing our understanding of human physiology, particularly as it pertains to the functional impact of sex-differences in the structure of the respiratory system. | Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Stephens explored the ways in which adult haematology oncology patients experience a complex and changing identity as part of their cancer journey. This qualitative study authenticated the need for healthcare professionals to support patients as they undergo transitions that are both psychological and physiological. | Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) |
| 2018 | Informed by the theory of curriculum-currere and ancient Chinese philosophical thought, Dr. Wang described how subjectivity has been reconstructed through writing autobiographically and academic studies. Findings propose that learning not only happens in classroom but also within the subjective sense of intellectual labour in a person's life. | Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies (PhD) |
| 2018 | Dr. Chung showed how mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell, help fish to cope with changes in temperature across different timescales. This work reveals the important role of mitochondria in allowing organisms to adapt to climate change. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |