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 | NID |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Dr. Amendola found that inhalation of CO2, commonly used to kill laboratory rats, induces negative emotional states. Her research shows that rats experience anxiety at low CO2 concentrations, and that the onset of these feelings varies between individuals. Her results indicate that CO2 compromises rat welfare even for the least sensitive of rats. | Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Animal Biology (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Reza developed a highly-scalable, distributed solution to support practical pattern matching based analytics in large graph datasets. He demonstrated the effectiveness of this technique through scaling experiments on massive real-world graph datasets and at platform scales, orders of magnitude larger than used in the past for similar problems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Booth investigated the development of small airways disease in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). He showed that patients in the early stages of COPD already have chronically inflamed airways and tissue destruction. His work increases our knowledge of small airways disease in COPD and provides new avenues for treatment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Dunn examined the relationship between real estate and theatricality in downtown Vancouver. Through case studies that detailed the urban histories of theatre spaces, she showed that downtown Vancouver is unique in its inability to sustain large-scale locally-produced theatre, and that this gap has perhaps been filled by real estate development. | Doctor of Philosophy in Theatre (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Zolaktaf examined ways of improving user interaction with data that is stored in large structured data sources. She developed algorithms and models that help users to explore, query, and analyze data more efficiently. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Roberson investigated the impact of immigration background on social belonging. Situating the measurement of social belonging in schools within an international comparative context, he shows that immigration background and national multicultural integration policy are valuable explanatory variables in the ecological validity argument. | Doctor of Philosophy in Measurement, Evaluation and Research Methodology (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Sajadi investigated the electronic properties of 2D topological insulators (TIs), a new class of materials with distinct electronic properties, and studied the interplay of 2D TIs with another exotic phase of matter: superconductivity. This work enhances our understanding of 2D TIs, and will pave the way towards topological quantum computing. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Snoddy studied regionalization in the labour market, particularly the effects of internal migration and union wage spillovers at the city level. He developed a new method of controlling for selection bias caused by internal migration, which uses machine learning tools to improve on existing methodologies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Babanezhad's research explored optimizing parameters for machine learning algorithms, like those used in data processing, focusing specifically on computational cost. His proposed method, which he has tested on a new set of constraints and machine learning models, can train models in less time and achieve better results than previous methods. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Richard Albert studied how each of our two copies of DNA, one from mom and one from dad, are treated differently deep within our cells. His research furthers our understanding of human reproduction and inheritance and will inform biomedical applications such as artificial insemination, stem cell therapies and cloning. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Ai developed a photo-acoustic imaging system through optical excitation and acoustic detection to illuminate the prostate from within the urethra using a transurethral probe. This technique will improve the detection and imaging of malignant tissue and prostate cancer. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Mohseni studied matrix defects in aerospace composites manufacturing. He developed analytical models and approaches for process optimization to minimize waste and reduce the manufacturing cost, especially for small enterprises. This research will inform improvements to cure cycle design, which will enable defect-free part manufacturing. | Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Engineering (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. McDowell examined how people living in the Nepal Himalayas and Peruvian Andes are adapting to changes in glacial hydrology. His work makes substantive contributions to how adaptation is studied in mountain areas, as well as what we know about and can do to address adaptation needs in mountain communities at the frontlines of climate change. | Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Turgeon-Solis studied Eighteenth Century authors' fascination with the figure of the nun. Her research sheds new light on a social imagination that was prevalent in the Eighteenth Century, and is an original contribution to the study of the representation of women in literature. | Doctor of Philosophy in French (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Zarei studied and implemented machine learning techniques for cancer detection, diagnosis, and prognosis. She developed technology to analyze and detect abnormalities in the cervix, and to classify and grade prostate cancer. Her work will ultimately help to reduce healthcare costs and increase patients' quality of life. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Carter explored the variation between individuals in endurance exercise performance during acute exposure to altitude by examining the impact on the pulmonary vasculature. His findings show the effect of simulated altitude on sleep quality and athletic performance, as well as the role of sildenafil in endurance cycle performance. | Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Verma explored fundamental silt behavior and various parameters that affect its behavior under earthquake loading. Through extensive laboratory testing, he produced an experimental database which will serve to enhance and refine the current state of knowledge about the behavior of silts under earthquake loading. | Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Lemon conducted a narrative examination of school-based trauma-informed practices. This is one of the first Canadian studies to investigate trauma-informed practice implementation from the perspective of school counselling professionals. This research supports the continued development of trauma-informed practices in the education system. | Doctor of Philosophy in Counselling Psychology (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Sanad developed tools and techniques to design relay communication satellite constellations for servicing Earth observation satellite constellations. This will allow for the fast delivery of Earth images to the end-users, which is significant in natural disaster and national security situations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Heieis investigated how cellular metabolism allows immune cells to respond in various scenarios of disease. He found that T cells have different requirements for glucose when fighting parasites versus bacterial infections. This research will have future implications in the development of immune-based therapies for infection and autoimmunity. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2020 | Direct Air Capture is a radical technology which removes carbon dioxide from the air for sequestration or utilization. Dr. Campbell's research provides a new understanding of the reactions involved in this technology and explores alternative reaction pathways with lower temperatures, which enables a more cost-effective removal of CO2 from the air. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Lee developed a novel method to isolate and sequence RNA from specific single cells identified by imaging. He subsequently applied his method to sequence rare immune cell events and showed diverging decisions being made by single cells within a population. This novel method will improve our understanding of how immune cells fight disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Fry compared language analyses derived by humans and machines. He demonstrated that unsupervised machine learning is able to generate language analyses that are comparable to those generated by humans. His research adds to the growing dialogue that machine learning has become a useful tool for theoretical linguists. | Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Bi investigated cell behavior in the regulation of periodontal disease. He found that a receptor molecule plays a central role in the regulation of periodontal inflammation and bone loss through transforming growth factor and epidermal growth factor receptor signaling. This research will impact treatment methods for periodontal diseases. | Doctor of Philosophy in Craniofacial Science (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Robinson identified new chemical leads that he developed as therapeutics for the tropical parasitic disease, Chagas. These drug-candidates aim to block the parasite's ability to camouflage inside the body, thereby enabling the host immune system to effectively fight the disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |