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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Dr. Wong found a human friendly virus called bacteriophages to be highly effective against a foodborne pathogen, Salmonella, in various fresh produce. For the Salmonella strains that are less susceptible to bacteriophage attack, she found them to utilize genes that can cleave bacteriophages before attack, thereby protecting themselves for survival. | Doctor of Philosophy in Food Science (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Pata is an oceanographer and studied the physical and ecological mechanisms that affect the distribution of zooplankton communities in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. He developed a global database of zooplankton species traits and used that in improving the estimates of the role of zooplankton in ecosystem functioning. | Doctor of Philosophy in Oceanography (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Noonan developed various tools and methodologies enabling the high-throughput testing and engineering of metabolisms in bacteria and microalgae, with the objective of applying microbial metabolisms to support sustainable industrial practices. | Doctor of Philosophy in Genome Science and Technology (PhD) |
| 2024 | In his doctoral work, Dr. Sravan developed the Personally Meaningful Outcomes-Assessment Process (PMO-AP) to gauge treatment effectiveness. A study with 50 participants demonstrated PMO-AP's reliability, validity and practicality. This patient-centered approach provides clinicians with a versatile tool to evaluate treatments for chronic conditions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Maschmeyer-Tombs examined the use of benchtop nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy as a tool to monitor chemical reactions. He evaluated the use of different sampling methods and applied his findings to study a variety of chemical reactions, demonstrating how similar approaches can be used in industrial pharmaceutical research. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Zandsalimy developed novel methods to improve the numerical stability and convergence rate of computational simulations. These cutting-edge tools are highly efficient and readily applicable to current industrial simulation software. His automated methods substantially reduce the computational resources required for diverse applications. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Wertman discovered a unique, putative mutualism between the alder bark beetle and a newly described species of fungus. Her research expands upon known bark beetle-fungus symbioses to include a hardwood tree-killing system and has implications for the future health of nitrogen-fixing red alder throughout the Pacific Coast of North America. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Montante studied the application of Artificial Intelligence for the advancement of biomedical research. Manual analysis of data extracted from blood samples is becoming increasingly complex. He developed a new Artificial Intelligence algorithm that is simple to use, accurate and able to analyze complex biomedical data in a few minutes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Zimmermann loves water. His primary research at UBC was understanding the science and application of a biological drinking water filter. However, his interests in water took him into the world of sustainable development when he got to visit nine NGOs on five continents to learn about their experiences with safe water for community health. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Azimi developed an integrated robotic system for advanced vision-based structural health monitoring. He introduced high-resolution image and point cloud segmentation methods and leveraged large language models for human-robot interactions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Triponez investigated the archival preservation of independent music production by interviewing music creators. He found that social and technological disruption, evolving creative practices, and the abundance of archival material pose preservation problems that result in an ongoing loss of documentary cultural heritage. | Doctor of Philosophy in Library, Archival and Information Studies (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Zhang developed a flexible statistical model with which the relations among multiple time series variables can be considered after modeling each individual time series. It is applied to macroeconomic variables with changing business cycles. | Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Lerner investigated Chinook salmon marine ecology. He used lipid analysis to determine Chinook fat content, and chemical tracers to examine sub-adult Chinook marine distribution, foraging, and food webs. This research improves our understanding of the marine life stage of this valuable species and can enhance conservation and management objectives. | Doctor of Philosophy in Oceanography (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Inkster investigated DNA methylation in the human placenta to inform our understanding of pregnancy complications that differ by sex. Her work found that sex differences exist across the placental epigenome, and illuminated a unique relationship between DNA methylation and X-chromosome inactivation distinguishing placenta from other tissues. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Otani conducted a study on molecular complexes at low temperatures using spectroscopic techniques. Her realization of a signature of molecular superfluidity predicted by theory but not yet realized and the nature of chiral molecules offers valuable insights into atomic, molecular, and condensed matter. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Mozaffari examined the impact of diet diversity on type 2 diabetes. She showed that a diet diverse in five food groups, and a variety of vegetables and plant protein sources, may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. These findings will inform the revision of some dietary guidelines, which currently advocate for a diet limited to only three food groups. | Doctor of Philosophy in Human Nutrition (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Hashemi developed a fast, non-invasive method to measure the elasticity of the tissue through ultrasound elastography. She applied her ultrafast elastography method in the liver ultrasound images to detect the liver fibrosis disease for more accurate tissue abnormality detection and reducing the ultrasound exam time substantially. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Heltzel finds that people typically like political allies who engage constructively with opponents. And yet, US Senators' social media posts get more likes and shares when they dismiss opponents because active extremists prefer such content. For this and other reasons, people incorrectly expect backlash for engaging with opponents. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Poon's research focused on heart motion management in radiation therapy for irregular heartbeats. He quantified regional heart motion and investigated a technique to synchronize radiation delivery with the cardiac cycle, with the goal of improving treatment outcomes by reducing the treated volume and minimizing radiation to healthy tissue. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Physics (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Bi aimed at improving the electrolyzer design, operation, and measurement toward ammonia electrosynthesis. He pinpointed inefficiencies of commercial separators in aqueous setups and designed low-cost electrodes for non-aqueous electrolyzers to benefit sustainable ammonia production. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Mellema studied Modern Art specializing in Marxist feminism. Her dissertation provides an account of how artists index socially reproductive labour, the daily labour needed to sustain human beings and social communities. Her dissertation provides a corrective to art historical accounts that have ignored gendered labour and working people. | Doctor of Philosophy in Art History (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Dowd built on more than a decade of field experience in the Himalaya to create an ethnographic portrait of the Tibetan language and its role in Buddhist transmission. He argues transmission represents the culmination of silence, speech and writing, where these three modes of language converge to transmit the Buddha's teachings. | Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Chadwick developed methods for deriving critical assessment data for regenerating post-harvest stands in Alberta, Canada from drone imagery. His methods provide a basis to increase the efficiency with which monitoring can occur and offer a level of wall-to-wall detail that cannot be practically obtained with traditional methods. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Babaee studied the effects of cryogenic fluid spills on ship structure integrity, focusing on rapid cooling impacts on plates. Using theoretical models, the research showed even small spills cause significant stress, aiding in designing more resilient maritime vessels. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Sauve explored the experiences that early-career teachers had with social and emotional learning (SEL) as they completed their teacher preparation programs in Oregon. Her research contributes to the limited understanding of the degree to which teachers receive preparation in SEL as they complete their teacher preparation programs in the U.S. | Doctor of Philosophy in Human Development, Learning, and Culture (PhD) |