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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Dr. Lever developed methods to extract biomedical knowledge from published academic papers. Working at BC Cancer's Genome Sciences Centre, he used machine learning approaches to find genetic information useful to clinicians treating cancer patients in a personalized way. His results are accessed daily by cancer researchers around the world. | Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Lopez studied the real time simulation of complex systems, focussing on disaster response scenarios. He explored critical infrastructure interdependencies, machine learning, and parallel processing and was able to test over hundreds of scenarios within a couple of minutes. This research provides first responders with a tool to help them save lives. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2019 | Success in employment for people with disabilities is often hampered by the negative attitudes of others within the workplace. Dr. Breen's research has resulted in his development of a questionnaire to measure these attitudes. The results of these measurements will aid in planning and determining the success of workplace training interventions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Velasquez Garcia made use of novel methods to estimate the causal effects of breast density on breast cancer risk, and to determine whether genetic mutations related to breast cancer act through breast density. His findings provide insights regarding potential future methods of breast cancer prevention. | Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Marquez used a mouse model to study the relationship between Epstein-Barr Virus (the virus that causes Infectious Mononucleosis) and the development of Multiple Sclerosis (or MS). She found that B cells infected with the mouse version of Epstein-Barr directly contribute to the worsening of the mouse version of MS. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Manav studied the mechanics of polymeric soft active materials using a combination of theory, molecular simulations, and experiments. His research established a relationship between the molecular scale properties of these materials and their macroscale mechanical properties. His work enables the application of these materials in the biomedical industry. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Campbell investigated the role of the Trithorax Group (TrxG) protein complexes during pancreas development. She discovered that loss of TrxG epigenetic activity resulted in fewer insulin-producing beta-cells and diabetes. Her research may improve the generation of functional pancreatic beta-cells from stem cells as a potential diabetes therapy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Martens studied the surface chemistry of platinum catalysts inside hydrogen fuel cells. A better mechanistic understanding of corrosion and degradation in these devices is critical for the development of economically viable clean power systems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Granados studied the formation of Jupiter sized planets that are very close to their host star. Using numerical simulations, she found that under certain conditions, these 'close-in Jupiters' can form in the region we observe them today through multiple planet-to-planet collisions while there is still considerable amount of gas present in the protoplanetary disk. | Doctor of Philosophy in Astronomy (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Charette studied pattern formations on evolving surfaces. He provided new findings on the bifurcations of reaction-diffusion systems and developed a numerical method to demonstrate his findings using the Closest Point Method. His work can be extended to many other evolving domain problems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Celiberto investigated how good bacteria in the gut protect against Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and the role of intestinal mucus in providing protection against bacterial infections. Her research may help in the development of new therapies for patients suffering acute infectious and chronic inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Hirsch Allen produced the most comprehensive and robust series of studies to date on the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea and the risk of occupational injuries. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2019 | Researchers today are able to study the behaviour of deep diving animals via sensors that generate high volumes of data. Dr. Fu developed automatic data analytic methods to group dive depth trajectories of southern elephant seals by dive shape. His methods help researchers understand seals' foraging and resting behaviour. | Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Chen's research aimed at optimizing sensor deployment locations for environmental monitoring. He developed information-based sampling techniques so that sensor nodes can retrieve maximum information from the environment. This research can lead to better sampling strategies and result in reduced costs and increased efficiency. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Woods researched factors influencing low breast cancer screening in British Columbia. He examined characteristics from both family physicians and patients, looking at immigration factors as well as different measures of patient-physician relationships to identify under-screened populations of women. This work helps focus intervention strategies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Hund investigated the impacts of climate change and population growth on water supplies in the seasonally-dry tropics. She monitored streams and groundwater, modelled future climate scenarios, and worked with communities to develop novel tools to support adaptation to drought. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Cook monitored a set of parameters that evaluate the external condition, stress, and immune function among non-target salmon species that are discarded as bycatch. This research improves our understanding of the effects of acute stress on the physiology and survival of fish, and can be applied to improving the welfare of fishes discarded from fisheries. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2019 | Myelin is a material in the brain which is damaged by certain diseases. Dr. Manning researched techniques to better detect myelin with an MRI scan. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2019 | With participation of 121 homecare nurses, Dr. Al-Masslawi studied barriers to their work, their problem solving strategies, and developed new patient documentation software that was inspired by their creative problem solving. The software used speech recognition, wearable technology, and smart phones, which nurses found very useful and easy to use. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Yumagulova examined how cities and regions can build their resilience to disasters and climate change using the Metro Vancouver region as her case study. Her research shows the importance of collaboration and learning to ensure coordinated, multi-level governance of risk. | Doctor of Philosophy in Planning (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Nanji studied autophagy, a method in which our bodies deal with the destruction of cells. By comparing the autophagy systems of fission yeast and mammals she was able to develop a model of autophagy initiation in fission yeast and humans. This work further unravelled the complicated interactions associated with autophagy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Ivo Odon completed his research in the field of Atmospheric Sciences. He investigated the behaviour of extreme weather events across BC, and the impacts of climate change on such events. The results of his dissertation are being used by BC Hydro so they can better prepare for peaks in electricity demand and power outages. | Doctor of Philosophy in Atmospheric Science (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Stiegler utilized mobile methodological lenses to explore innovative ways of moving, thinking, and writing alongside trans, queer, and genderqueer youth in New York City. This work ensures their lives are animated in ways that make central the knowledge young people produce about themselves and how they are able to move through social worlds. | Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies (PhD) |
| 2019 | Using experimental and modeling methods, Dr. Medrano studied aluminum alloys for automotive applications. His work linked the strength of the alloy to the formation of nanoclusters during processing, and their relationship with the material's defects. This study supports the use of these alloys to produce vehicles with less environmental impact. | Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Engineering (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Bomkamp examined presynaptic differentiation mediated by PTP sigma, providing evidence that its binding site for liprin-alpha, but not its phosphatase activity, is required for it to induce synapses. She also modeled relationships between gene expression and neuronal properties in order to generate hypotheses about how these properties are regulated. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |