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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Dr. Campbell studied change in the culturally diverse students in engineering design teams. Buying into teamwork, claiming viable roles and navigating team perspectives were found critical to early professional development. This suggests a need for an explicit curricular focus on teamwork, intercultural and communicative skills, and formative assessment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Solomonson studied how bacteria cause the disease tuberculosis, or TB, which is still a major world-wide problem. He provided a glimpse of the tiny molecular machines used by the bacteria to manipulate human cells during an infection. The findings will hopefully contribute to the development of better drugs and vaccines to prevent and treat TB. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Cameron discovered a mutation hotspot in the diarrhea-causing pathogen, Campylobacter jejuni. His research revealed that specific high frequency mutations promote stress resistance that enables rapid adaptation and enhances survival of the bacterium in infected human cells. This work helps explain the prevalence of Campylobacter infections. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2015 | Methane emissions from natural gas vehicle exhausts are a major environmental challenge due to the global warming potential of methane. Dr. Gholami Shahrestani studied catalytic methane combustion to remove methane from natural gas vehicle exhausts. His contributions improve the design and lifetime of catalysts used in natural gas vehicle converters. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2015 | What's the story behind seafood on the table? Were producers and fisheries helped or harmed in production? Dr. Nakamura investigated effects from voluntary measures for sustainable seafood in an era of overfishing. Her findings show that new forms of industry self-regulation have led to agreement on ways to fix unsustainable practices. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Scholes examined how American periodicals materially shaped the ethos of women's poetry in the mid-nineteenth century. She argues that this ethos directly impacted Emily Dickinson's representation of herself as a poet, and reveals Dickinson's life-long avoidance of publication as a commitment to specific, interpersonal, non-public, poetic address. | Doctor of Philosophy in English (PhD) |
| 2015 | For five years, Dr. Yang studied several synthetic proteins in UBC's Chemistry Department. His unprecedented research demonstrated that these jellyfish-like synthetic proteins have potential in both catalytic and biological applications. This knowledge may aid in the design of an artificial enzyme and also contribute to the development of new drugs. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Hambrook studied the Fourier transform, which is the mathematical operation that decomposes a signal into its component frequencies. The Fourier transform is a fundamental tool in science, engineering, and technology. Dr. Hambrook's work has provided powerful insights into the deep geometric and arithmetic structure of this important operation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Noel studied the potential for artificial devices in fluids to share information by sending molecules. He developed a theoretical model for a device to learn about its fluid environment and how it receives information from other devices. His model will aid in the design of new communication networks, and helps us understand biological communication. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Zhang studied Reproductive and Developmental Sciences. She showed how oocyte-derived growth factors in the human ovarian cells regulate sex hormone production and ovulation. This knowledge will aid in the understanding of ovulation and the findings will help therapies of female infertility and improve In-Vitro Fertilization protocols. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Massot's dissertation investigates China's impact on the global iron ore, potash and uranium markets. She showed that market power imbalances between Chinese and international market stakeholders influence outcomes. Some important changes, including the liberalization of the iron ore market, were the result of a Chinese position of weakness. | Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Mulder studied the role of dietary fats during early brain development. She identified that some women in Vancouver had omega-3 fatty acid deficiency, and that their babies were more likely to have slower development. Although the long-term effects are unclear, her work improves our understanding of nutritional needs in the developing brain. | Doctor of Philosophy in Human Nutrition (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Samarakoon studied the role of a receptor, CD45, in inflammatory bowel disease. She showed that CD45 modulates the production of inflammatory cytokines by immune cells and also the migration of those cells to the intestines. Her work provides further insight into how immune cells communicate and may provide new avenues for treatment of colitis. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Sze investigated the role of bacterial communities in the lung and how they can potentially impact disease progression in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Specifically, he studied how these bacterial communities influence and drive immune and inflammatory processes, and identified specific bacteria that could be targeted by those processes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2015 | Leishmania are small parasites that are transmitted to humans by sand flies and can cause severe disease. Dr. Lambertz examined how leishmania cause disease and can shut down the host's immune response. Her research advanced our understanding of how parasites communicate with humans and may aid in development of new drugs to treat leishmania infection. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Munson studied the geology of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs. As conventional reservoirs are being depleted, focus is shifting to more complex sources of these hydrocarbons. He improved current methods and developed new methods to study unconventional reservoirs in order to better understand the location and production of oil and gas. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD) |
| 2015 | Using computer models to study how asteroids orbit the Sun, Dr. Greenstreet discovered they can sometimes orbit the Sun backwards. She also determined how often comets strike Pluto and its five moons, which can be used along with data from NASA's historic New Horizons mission to understand characteristics of the surfaces of Pluto and its moons. | Doctor of Philosophy in Astronomy (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Jeanniard-du-Dot investigated the biology and ecology of fur seals in the Arctic and in Antarctica. She showed that the foraging strategy and efficiency of females affect their survival and reproduction success. Her study helps us understand how environmental changes impact the health of polar animals and their population for conservation purposes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Chen's doctoral research aimed at simplifying 3D computer modeling for engineering applications. He developed a novel system that allows users to freely manipulate complex 3D engineering models as easily as a child playing with clay. His work finally opens up engineering 3D modeling to users with any modeling skill level. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. McAuliffe studied speech perception, the field in linguistics that focuses on how listeners are able to perceive and understand speech. Specifically, he focussed on perceptual learning, which refers to how listeners update their perceptual system in response to hearing speech. His findings contribute to cognitive models of speech perception. | Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics (PhD) |
| 2015 | Why are particular plant species found only in particular places? To answer this question, Dr. Lee roamed the Rocky Mountains of North America in search of Townsend's Easter Daisies. Using genetic and climate modelling techniques, he improved our understanding of plant speciation and how climate and asexual reproduction affect plant distributions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2015 | Looking at even the most ordinary objects at the tiniest of scales, we see particles that behave in strange, un-intuitive ways, according to quantum mechanics. Similarly, if matter cools to very low temperatures, its behaviour may become strange and quantum. Dr. Blois derived rigorous formulas aimed to describe this low-temperature quantum behaviour | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Mehranpour created a model to identify which proteins are better targets for drugs, and which part of each protein interacts with drugs and enzymes. This model can be used by biochemists and biologists to probe the behaviour of proteins in different diseases, with the goal of controlling the progress of diseases such as Cancer and Alzheimer's. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Bean studied the factors that move proteins to the correct places in yeast cells. He discovered a new transport protein and suggested a process by which other proteins are brought to their functional location in our cells. The findings from these studies may improve our understanding of hemophilia, Parkinson disease and Alzheimer disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Welsted developed a model to explain the excessive accumulation of objects by individuals with hoarding disorder. Her results suggest that these individuals are particularly adept at finding value in items others consider worthless. This work contributes to a better understanding of this complex and little studied form of psychopathology. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |