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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Dr. Niemietz defined mechanisms by which hyaluronan influences human neutrophil functionality and how this potentially contributes to childhood-onset rheumatic diseases. Her research significantly expands our understanding of neutrophils in the human inflammatory response. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Press examined the role of persuasion in medical settings and scientific writing. She showed how a patient's positionality can impact how that person is treated in medical encounters, and how discrimination can lead to differential health outcomes. Her research shows the value of applying narrative and rhetorical approaches to health studies. | Doctor of Philosophy in English (PhD) |
| 2023 | Counting sums and differences between sets is a central part of many questions in additive combinatorics. Dr. White developed a new technique combining harmonic analysis and optimization to nearly resolve a longstanding question in this field. He expects that his new method can be extended to other problems in additive combinatorics. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Kim's research focused on mechanisms that reduce metabolic rate in small hibernating rodents. These comparative studies take us one step closer to understanding and utilizing naturally occurring biological phenomena for biomedical advancement. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Fink developed methods to convert CO2 or water into useful products using renewable energy. He showed that carbon capture can be directly coupled with CO2 electro-conversion to lower energy demands. He also demonstrated that hydrogen peroxide can be produced through electrochemistry to replace the current methods which consume fossil fuels. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Zhumatova developed a policy index that measures the scope of mainstreaming, a policy of immigrant integration, across European states. She used the index and other data to examine if mainstreaming helps immigrants find employment. Her research contributes to a better understanding of whether immigrant integration policies work. | Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Jain studied Geopolymers, environment-friendly alternatives to Portland Cement, for cesium nuclear waste immobilization. Dr. Jain demonstrated enhanced cesium immobilization within the Geopolymers processed via one-step chemical synthesis route. Safer long-term nuclear waste storage will be possible because of Dr. Jain's work. | Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Engineering (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Anderson's research revealed ways in which the glacier runoff impacts water resources in Western Canada under climate change. He identified the communities in Alberta whose water supplies are most vulnerable to the loss of glaciers, and quantified how heat waves alter the timing and availability of water resources across BC and Alberta. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Crosby developed a novel methodology to improve the prediction accuracy of occupants thermal comfort. Dr. Crosby's work suggested that predictions of thermal comfort can be improved by adding measurements of CO2 levels. Ventilation rates can be increased with minimal building energy demand increase while keeping thermal comfort maintained. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2023 | Earthquakes represent the release of stress on faults, which occur in abundance in western British Columbia and Washington state due to convergence between North America and offshore oceanic plates.Dr. Merrill investigates several earthquake-dense regions in BC and Washington where fluids are interpreted to promote brittle failure. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Nunez Bahena developed synthetic methodologies for accessing nitrogen-containing compounds by employing a catalyst based on an abundant metal, zirconium. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Le examined the structural hierarchical effects in electronic textiles, and their influence on performance of wearable sensors used for health monitoring. Contributions include functional materials development to address long-term performance and durability. Her findings will inform future e-textile materials evaluation, selection, and design. | Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Engineering (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Nguyen studied different roles of the nuclear localization signals in the life cycle of the Influenza A virus. She found these signals are important for the virus's nuclear import and nucleolus accumulation. Her findings deepen our knowledge of the influenza A virus's biology, which may lead to new pharmaceutical approaches for flu treatment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr.Chen developed a novel drug for treating stroke. He also extended his research interest to employing precision medicine to assit the management of young patients with epilepy that are caused by rare variants. His studies showed a great potential in improving the life quality of the old and young patients. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Solis-Becerra examined how indigenous cuisine can serve as an effective tool to achieve local Food sovereignty while preserving regional biocultural diversity. Both are key aspects in the development of sustainable food systems and food security strategies aligned with culturally respectful initiatives. | Doctor of Philosophy in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Yu developed and validated two novel reporter gene mouse models that can quickly measure the effectiveness of genome editing in animals. They are valuable tools to evaluate and optimize new ways to deliver gene editors into various tissues. The long-term goal of this research is to improve the safety and efficacy of genome-targeted therapeutics. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical Sciences (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Karangu investigated non-refugee teachers' teaching experiences in a long-term refugee camp, Dadaab, Kenya. His analysis demonstrates that there is little known about these non-refugee teachers. This research brings forward the voices of underrepresented teachers as it mattered to them through an Afrocentric lens. | Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Xing has been developing bioinformatic algorithms and tools for the unexplored tandem mass spectrometry data in untargeted metabolomics. In revealing the structural information of the undiscovered metabolome, his works paved way for revealing biological mechanisms behind various health disorders and diseases from the perspective of small molecules. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Huijsmans investigated a set of small words with grammatical functions in ?ay?aj u¸Ym (Comox-Sliammon; Central Salish). These encode information about utterance type, source of evidence, speaker certainty, and broader discourse context. This research contributes to documentation available to future language learners, teachers, and researchers. | Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Tummuru studied quantum materials that can be assembled from simple building blocks to unveil novel emergent properties. Experimental realization of the proposed structures could find use in the development of quantum technology. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Natola studied the evolutionary process whereby 1 species splits into multiple different species using 3 hybridizing species of woodpeckers as a study system. She found the 3 species arose due to their environmental, behavioral, and genomic differences. Her study demonstrates evolutionary processes that have produced Canada's biodiversity. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Pataky's research explored methods to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of precision medicine technologies. She found that using genomic testing to define eligibility for cancer therapy can provide value for money. These new evaluation methods will help health care systems to better assess the value of funding precision medicine. | Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Aina developed new computer-based methods for engineering vaccines to treat brain diseases. He showed that the methods are effective for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease in computer models, making them valuable in drug development. His findings benefit those with brain diseases, as well as researchers and the pharmaceutical industry. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Pilarinos's research explored young people's perspectives on and experiences with medications for opioid use disorder. In addition to identifying policy barriers to treatment access, retention, and cessation, Dr. Pilarinos's research outlined young people's suggestions on ways to improve treatment services in the context of the overdose crisis. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Huang revealed how the next-generation wireless networks can benefit from machine learning and artificial intelligence. He developed machine learning-based algorithms to push the limits of wireless networks, making it more intelligent, reliable, and efficient. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |