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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Dr. Hammond examined changes in the functional properties of human blood stem cells with advancing age. Among his findings was an aging-associated change in the growth-signal requirements and the amount of time required for blood stem cells to divide. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Fang studied first-order optimization algorithms. His work has contributed to a better understanding of first-order methods for structured problems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2021 | Certain phases of matter admit an intriguing connection to gravity, providing a fruitful way to study exotic objects such as black holes and wormholes. Dr. Lantagne-Hurtubise studied toy models of such holographic quantum matter, discovering new phenomena and developing connections to physical platforms where they may be experimentally probed. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Lin studied how Campylobacter jejuni helical cell shape is generated by enzyme actions. She found the shape-determining enzymes digest sites in the cell wall structure. This knowledge adds mechanistic insight on bacterial morphology maintenance, and provides a platform to design drugs targeting the helical cell shape necessary for infection. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2021 | Quantum computers are expected to be exponentially faster than conventional computers in completing certain tasks. Dr. Zaribafiyan formulated the concept of hybrid quantum-classical computing and examined how hybrid algorithms can help scale up the applicability of these computers to a wider range of applications, from logistics to drug discovery. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Lee studied teacher responses to student peer victimization. By way of a social experiment, he found that teachers respond differently to bullying victims with emotional and behavioural problems. His research highlights teacher sensitivity to student mental health differences, and the need for further teacher-focused mental health initiatives. | Doctor of Philosophy in School and Applied Child Psychology (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Tobber proposed a novel building system to improve the seismic response of tall buildings. She led advanced simulation and large-scale experimental testing programs to study her system. Dr. Tobber is now an Assistant Professor at UBC Okanagan, where she continues her work making buildings safer and more resilient to natural disasters. | Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Parya Keyvani designed and fabricated a diode constructed from cellulose nanocrystal, in conjunction with hydrogels. Her findings contribute to the research to make flexible and biodegradable functional devices. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Shaikh used upright magnetic resonance imaging to study the effect of standing functional postures, compared to supine, on lumbopelvic muscle and bony geometry synchronously in adult spinal deformity patients. This work informs the way we study and understand this disease, and its future biomechanical modeling, mitigation, and treatment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Malakoutian examined biomechanical properties of paraspinal muscles in spinal deformity patients. He found large variations in those properties with dramatic influences on spinal loading predicted by a musculoskeletal model. His research shed more light on potential causes of spinal diseases and can help in development of better treatments | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Gilchrist combined laboratory, field and computer-based methods to characterize explosive volcanic eruptions ranging from small puffs of ash to civilization-ending super eruptions. The culmination of his PhD dissertation is a new classification for eruptions that represents a paradigm shift in the direction of future volcanology research. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Yang studied the production location and sourcing decisions of multinational firms. By quantifying firms' responses to environmental, trade and competition policy changes, she examined how the interactions between firms and governments affect social welfare. This research illuminates the role of multinational firms in policy design. | Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Strategy and Business Economics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Awad examined sex differences in survival from out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Results showed important variations between men and women in OHCA intervention and outcomes. The findings provided evidence to inform current clinical practice and generate an evidence-based approach to treatment of OHCA, which will lead to saving more lives. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Brown examined how protein arginine methyltransferases interact with their binding partners and identified a process by which these enzymes contribute to stress in yeast cells. Since yeast and human cells are highly similar, these results provide new knowledge of the importance and impact of this family of enzymes on biological pathways. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical Sciences (PhD) |
| 2021 | In this dissertation, Dr. Cheng studied analytical and numerical methods of partial differential equations. Dr. Cheng studied the Allen-Cahn dynamics, the Oxygen depletion model and the stationary surface quasi-geostrophic equation. These models can be applied to material sciences, biology and geography. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Zonno studied the physical properties of quantum materials, such as superconductors and rare-earth compounds, by employing laser excitations and chemical substitution. Her results testify to the importance of electron-electron interactions in dictating the behavior of these materials, which may play a vital role in future technologies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Fleming's research explored the challenges and strategic opportunities of leadership in post-secondary education under growing neoliberal conditions. He concludes that neoliberal conditions redefine education as a commodified resource in a global marketplace, shifting educational practice away from principles of participatory democracy. | Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy (EdD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Feng developed several novel chemosensors to rapidly and selectively detect different chemical hazards in various food matrices. The chemosensors developed in his study not only simplify food hazards detection process but also present excellent detection sensitivity. His work will contribute to public health as well as agri-food industry. | Doctor of Philosophy in Food Science (PhD) |
| 2021 | Mitigating the risk of cardiovascular (CV) events in individuals with spinal cord injury is a vital goal of employing rehabilitation strategies. Dr. Alrashidi investigated the effect of two different exercise modalities on various CV parameters. Active arm exercise improved fitness compared to passive leg exercise in this population. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Coleman investigated the physiological mechanisms that allow some kelp species to develop progressively narrower and longer photosynthetic blades as water flow increases. His research has improved our understanding of an important biomechanical adaptation to variable flow conditions in a group of ecologically important marine organisms. | Doctor of Philosophy in Botany (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Doherty examined how four long-term adult learners of Chinese were socialized throughout their language journeys into practices and identities that later informed their roles as online language mentors. This study highlighted the rich and complex resources that these experienced learners created for their peers in a digital environment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Language and Literacy Education (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Hao studied the interaction in a dynamic game and the unobserved heterogeneity issue present in the data. She shows that during the initiation stage of collusion, firms learn to coordinate based on experience. She makes a contribution to the estimation process of panel regression and dynamic discrete choice models with unobserved heterogeneity. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Yuan studied how organic molecules interacted with light. She synthesized a variety of sulfur-bridged chromophore dimers and examined the effect of oxidation on the photophysical and photochemical properties. She demonstrated how these materials could be used for potential applications in anti-counterfeiting. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Pokorny examined the potential long-term impacts of mountain pine beetles on the Canadian Boreal Forest. He demonstrated that for invading beetles, boreal jack pines are unsuitable hosts compared to native lodgepole pines. This research is important for understanding range dynamics of eruptive insect pests under a warming climate. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Cen studied the effects of insulin levels on insulin receptor expression. He showed that high insulin reduces insulin receptors in muscle, thereby causing insulin resistance. He also identified proteins that control insulin receptor expression and movement within cells. His findings improve our understanding of insulin resistance and diabetes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Genome Science and Technology (PhD) |