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. Mercer developed and tested a method of measuring the contributions fathers make to rearing healthy children in South Africa. Future application of this method in national surveys will inform initiatives to remove barriers and encourage positive, gender-equitable parenting by fathers. | Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy (MDPhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Schroeter studied the discourses of difference of students in a Francophone minority language school. She found that multiracial youth monitor talk about race, nation, class, and gender through uses of humour and denial in liminal (e.g. drama) and formal spaces. This research highlights the necessity for anti-racist and decolonizing pedagogies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Language and Literacy Education (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Hosseini studied the development of non-precious metal oxides as oxygen electrocatalysts for a number of energy conversion systems such as rechargeable metal-air batteries. His research introduced the next generation of high-performance, cost-effective electrocatalyst materials as alternatives to noble metals in the energy storage industry. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Yeung examined the function of a novel molecule in cerebellar development, Wntless, and how it defines new compartments in cerebellar development. She also documented that Pax6 is a master gene for the cerebellum as in other brain regions. Her findings will lead to new understandings of the molecular bases of cerebellar development and disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Image restoration aims at enhancing the quality of images by undoing the adverse effects of image degradation and needs to be addressed as part of most imaging systems. Dr. Xiao developed numerical optimization and machine learning methods for image restoration that are suitable for modern mobile and high-resolution imaging. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Son examined the ways Koreans living in Japan transmit their Korean language to their children who were born in Japan. The study reveals Korean children are socialized into multiple perceptions of language and identities through everyday interactions with others. She highlights the relationship between their perceptions and identities and their language usage. | Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Studies (PhD) |
| 2017 | Reactive transport is a powerful tool to help understand water and rock interactions and processes related to groundwater and soil contamination. Dr. Rasouli's doctoral research was focused on the development and application of multicomponent diffusion and electrochemical migration models for reactive transport in porous media. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Type II diabetes is one of the most prevalent diseases affecting at least 285 million people worldwide. Dr. Barazandegan's doctoral studies focused on employing a clinically-relevant physiological model of type II diabetes mellitus to improve the management of blood glucose level and fault detection features suitable for monitoring and control. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | In the process of developing and optimizing new chemistry, the understanding of reaction pathways is essential. Dr. Yu studied organic reaction mechanisms using nontraditional methods. She contributed to the field by testing the limits of a new automated method of reaction monitoring, particularly in challenging environments such as the microwave reactor for organic chemistry. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Alutaibi developed a decision support system for helping emergency responders in making efficient decisions during extreme events. This system performs an economic analysis to evaluate the efficiency of resource allocation. Dr. Alutaibi's research helps in improving infrastructure systems resilience. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Sarte's research demonstrated a method for deciphering how beginning teachers consciously and unconsciously become recognisable as teachers. His contribution combined photo-elicitation with the work of French psychoanalyst, Jacques Lacan. His study brings forward a framework that facilitates the construction of positive professional identity. | Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Pon characterized how mutations in the gene MEF2B may contribute to lymphoma development. She mapped, for the first time, interactions between MEF2B and other genes throughout the genome, including genes involved in cancer development. Her research contributes to our understanding of the regulatory networks altered in cancer development. | Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy (MDPhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Dalton studied the machinery required to move proteins to the right places in the cell. She searched the entire yeast genome for new protein trafficking components and did initial investigations into how they work. Her work contributes to our understanding of the mechanisms that cause Parkinson's disease, Alzheimers's disease and others. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Hyrina investigated the role of key regulators of host lipid metabolism, including microRNAs and proprotein convertases during hepatitis C and dengue virus infections. These studies provide new insights into the complex host-virus interactions, which may be utilized as targets for antiviral development as well as biomarkers of infection. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Computer vision is about building systems that can 'see' and make sense of a complex visual world. Dr. Tung developed data-driven algorithms for understanding the semantic structure of scenes from images and video. Potential applications of this research include large-scale multimedia searches, self-driving vehicles, and prosthetic vision. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Luo developed statistical methods for analyzing epidemiological data for situations where the acquisition of genotype and the exposure to environment are independent. These methods can be applied to facilitate the understanding of the joint effect of genetic and environmental factors on human disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Weidman studied how psychologists measure positive emotions in research studies. He identified several problematic practices hindered by psychologists' current understanding of positive emotions. He further developed new and improved measurement tools for assessing positive emotions, which capture how people experience these emotions in daily life. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Crabtree conducted participatory research with people who drink non-beverage alcohol, such as mouthwash and rubbing alcohol. Her work contributed to the development of harm reduction programs for this population and led to the formation of an activist group of illicit drinkers who advocate for the health of their community. | Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy (MDPhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Newell examined the aesthetics of weird fiction, an offshoot of the Gothic genre. He argued that the emotions of horror evoked by weird fiction are instrumental to its philosophical investigation of absolute reality. This research expands our understanding of weird fiction as a genre and of the connections between aesthetics, affect, and metaphysics. | Doctor of Philosophy in English (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Liu studied how integrin cell adhesion receptors can modulate chemotherapeutic resistance in pediatric leukemia. He found that a common peptide motif within this protein group can sufficiently promote drug resistance. This knowledge can facilitate the design of therapeutics to increase the effectiveness of cancer treatment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Bayless studied computer science. He created a new technique for building fast, practical and efficient constraint solvers. His work can be applied to circuit layout, networking, program synthesis and video game design. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Lenhardt studied the factors involved in smallholder farmers' ability to bargain prices for their goods. She developed an interdisciplinary approach to explain the combined economic and social factors using original survey data from rubber farmers in Indonesia. Her research advances our understanding of social networks in economic decision-making. | Doctor of Philosophy in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Zhang's study focused on the development of diabetes and its heart complication. He investigated an enzyme named 'haparanase', which facilitates the heart metabolic changes in diabetic patients, and could prevent the occurrence of diabetes if over produced. His work helps to revise the current use of heparanase as a therapeutic target. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical Sciences (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Huizing completed research on polymeric membranes. He developed novel high-performance materials for the selective separation of water vapour from air. His work resulted in several granted patents and the materials developed have immediate applications in the field of building ventilation energy recovery and other vapour transport applications. | Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Goller studied visual control of hovering position in hummingbirds. His free-flight studies show that vision is important for maintaining a stationary position, even when most of the background is stationary or the hummingbird is docked at a feeder. These behavioural results support the idea that avian vision is specialized for flight style. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |