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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Dr. Mehr looked at the dynamic nature of atomic connectivity and electron distribution in a family of organic compounds. He showed that the insights gained can be used to design new compounds with unusual and potentially useful properties. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Alam studied the infection process of plant viruses. She examined and clarified the mechanism underlying two essential aspects of the viral infection cycle - virion assembly and disassembly. Her work furthers our understanding of how plant viruses establish infection, how new viruses form, and virus disease control. | Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Science (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Posacka examined the biogeochemical cycle of copper in the ocean. Her research identified major processes that influence copper concentrations in the Northeast Pacific and highlighted the importance of copper nutrition in marine bacteria. This work provides insights into how copper regulates biological processes in the ocean. | Doctor of Philosophy in Oceanography (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Lussier studied the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on epigenetic mechanisms using basic and clinical models. In addition to identifying new effects of alcohol in the developing brain, he also found an epigenetic signature that could be used to screen children at risk for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder for early interventions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Gobinath examined pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions in a postpartum depression model. She found that exercise and the drug, fluoxetine, functioned differently in mothers, and male offspring were more sensitive to drug exposure. This research emphasizes the importance of investigating postpartum interventions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Xiao studied the political emotion of pride through activists, artists, and educators of various Chinese heritages in Greater Vancouver. Discovering the power of pride in grassroots mobilization and public representation, his study has brought new depth to intellectual activism, identity politics, and cross-cultural learning. | Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Wehbe developed a method to form insoluble copper complexes inside lipid nanoparticles. This method allowed for the preclinical testing of copper-based therapeutics to treat blood, brain and ovarian cancers. His findings will aid in the design and development of future anti-cancer copper-based medicines. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical Sciences (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Kim studied the mechanisms of an emerging class of therapeutics used for the treatment of epilepsy. His research revealed critical molecular interactions between a drug named retigabine and potassium channel proteins in the brain. These novel findings will contribute to the development of more effective therapies in the future. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Osei assessed cell communication within the airways of asthmatic and COPD patients. His work showed the importance of Interleukin-1 alpha in the mediation of inflammation and fibrosis. This work increases our knowledge in chronic inflammation and remodelling that occurs in asthma and COPD, and provides avenues for new therapeutic research. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Bagheri studied genetic causes of human prenatal and postnatal developmental abnormalities. Using multiple approaches including bioinformatics, patient cell and transgenic zebrafish analysis, he identified three new genes for developmental disorders. His study represents a blueprint for future genetic studies of abnormal human development. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Chan studied how tumours from lymphoma patients evolved over time under treatment. He identified markers of treatment resistance that can be used towards the design of future diagnostic tests. His work exemplifies the application of genomics in precision medicine. | Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Taking inspiration from poly-iron cofactors found in nature, Dr. Pick synthesized poly-iron coordination complexes and studied their reactivity. He discovered a system that cleaves a nitrogen nitrogen double bond. This work offers insight into what a potential iron-based catalyst for nitrogen functionalization might look like. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Rawe developed new methods to synthesize phosphorus-containing polymers. He discovered a new class of chemically active polymer that has changing fluorescence properties when exposed to oxygen or gold ions. His research provides evidence that phosphorus-containing polymers may be useful materials to detect specific analytes in low concentrations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Kardan proposed a framework for adding personalized support to educational tools such as interactive computer simulations. It relies on user data and data mining to automatically provide hints to students when they need them. Experimental evaluations show that this framework can make the existing educational tools significantly more effective. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Erickson researched the effects of warming and human activity on forests in Alberta. He found that human activity changed forest fires in a way that may slow tree migrations while reducing understory light. His work was the first to combine dynamic vegetation modeling and machine learning, which may broadly benefit earth systems modeling. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Ma investigated eco-physiology of effects of red/far-red light ratio on tomato and common weeds. Her research improves our understanding of how red/far-red ratio modifies plant growth, which affects plant-plant interactions. This understanding will help in management of agro-ecosystems to minimize crop losses due to weeds. | Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Science (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Globa's work has demonstrated that drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, impact how brain cells communicate with one another at specialized points of contact called 'synapses'. Her work specifically shows that synaptic connections must be malleable or 'plastic' to promote behaviours associated with addiction in mice. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Ferguson studied principles of cognitive neuroscience to better understand how we use our bodies and minds to make sense of our surroundings during a theatre performance. He examined how artists create spatial compositions in which audience members use their physical memories and neural patterns to create meaning and new experiences. | Doctor of Philosophy in Theatre (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Arianpoo studied the contribution of energy projects to the sustainable development of their host communities. With a focus on geothermal power projects, she designed a sustainable development framework and maturity model. Her work will help industry to implement appropriate sustainable development strategies resulting in good neighbour projects. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mining Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Amini Niaki studied computational mechanics and structural analysis. He developed a multi-phase, integrated model to simulate the processing of composite materials. His work will provide engineers and researchers in the composite manufacturing industry with a fast, convenient, and accurate simulation tool. | Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Addison examined the avoidance of health information in people with health concerns. She showed that limiting methods, such as filtering and delegating, were particularly common in cases where people felt fear, disinterest, or distrust. Her work will contribute to our understanding of how we manage and experience health issues. | Doctor of Philosophy in Library, Archival and Information Studies (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Whillans examined the relationship between time, money, and subjective well-being. Using large scale surveys and experiments, she found that choosing time over money, both in daily and major life decisions, promotes greater happiness. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Stein examined the colonial roots of the ethical and political challenges that arise in contemporary higher education internationalization efforts, and traced how these colonial roots shape contrasting ideas of global justice in this work. | Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Hajiaghayi studied bioinformatics, which combines computer science and statistics to interpret biological systems. She investigated RNA/DNA structure prediction, RNA/DNA folding pathways, and chemical reaction networks. Her work helps us to more efficiently compute and analyze complex functions using interacting molecules. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Sellers studied the vascular biology of Marfan syndrome with a focus on understanding how current therapies work and finding new potential drug targets. Her work helps to better understand Marfan syndrome and provide the basis upon which to design new treatments for patients in the future. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology (PhD) |