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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Dr. Dancsok investigated the immune response to agressive cancers of the bone or soft tissues known as sarcomas. Her findings were used to help design clinical trials for sarcoma patients receiving a new type of cancer treatment called immune therapy, which works by igniting an immune system attack on cancer cells. | Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy (MDPhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Brown used budding yeast as a model to investigate the cellular response to DNA damage, which is highly conserved between yeast and humans. He revised a recently proposed model of the cellular response to DNA damage and discovered that a scaffolding protein called Rtt107 cooperates with different protein partners to prevent mutations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Dormond studied the understanding and response of counsellors, police and educators to "honour"-related violence and oppression, and found that discourses of othering depict racialized communities as the cause of these acts. He provides insight for collaborative and educational frameworks to challenge the marginalization of racialized peoples. | Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies (PhD) |
| 2021 | Harmful soot emissions from combustion engines are sensitive to conditions inside the cylinder. Dr. Kheirkhah developed a fast-response method for characterizing the cycle-resolved variation of soot concentration and correlated this with combustion energy, demonstrating the possibility of mitigating emissions by controlling combustion variability. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Enkhbaatar proposed a method that estimates household preference and hidden stock market participation costs from micro-panel data, and used it to analyze how the stock market collapse impacted household consumption. This research is useful for policymakers measuring the impact of financial crises and monetary policy on household consumption. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Garces showed how disease-causing mutations in the gene of a protein called ABCA4 affects its function and causes Stargardt's disease. His thesis provides invaluable insights into the pathological mechanisms of Stargardt's disease, insights of which could help tailor therapeutic treatments to individuals suffering from this disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2021 | Some advanced cancers can be treated with the radioactive isotope called actinium-225, yet current actinium supplies are limited and rely on decades-old material from nuclear weapons. Dr. Robertson used TRIUMF's particle accelerator to develop alternative actinium production methods that could support widespread use of actinium-based therapies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Lefkowich designed and piloted methods for community-based digital storytelling. Using personal reflections, she illustrated how filmmakers and academics normalize, conceal, and defend racism and colonialism as best practices. To disrupt this pattern, she offered story strategies that encourage greater accountability, creativity, and bravery. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Michalowski found that fluctuating emotions are linked with both concurrent and longitudinal health in older couples. Her findings illuminate everyday emotional dynamics that shape interconnected aging trajectories in spouses. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Hopkins researched historical and structural interactions between politics and classical music. He proposed three foundational ways for classical pianists to integrate political speech and action into their studies and careers, and also commissioned two new piano compositions that each address current political issues. | Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano (DMA) |
| 2021 | Dr. Marchant demonstrated the respective roles of the calcium and membrane clocks in cardiac pacemaking of the zebrafish, and determined important genetic distinctions in pacemaking function between mammals and zebrafish. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Gilman explored the impact of a family literacy program on women with immigrant and refugee backgrounds. This study concluded that a three-way model of family literacy has the potential for highly positive outcomes in both social and academic domains. | Doctor of Philosophy in Teaching English as a Second Language (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Twa characterized the pathobiology and sequelae, or consequences, of chromosomal rearrangements in lymphoid neoplasia, which arise from cancerous lymphoid cells. | Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy (MDPhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Gomez studied the structure and dynamics of localized patterns in cellular biology using several new mathematical models, some patterns of which have applications to bulk-membrane processes. The analysis of such patterns provides insights on the phenomena being modeled and contributes to our general understanding of pattern formation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Wiebe studied whether China's economic growth can be explained by meritocratic promotion, where leaders with higher GDP growth are rewarded with promotion. Focusing on prefecture leaders, he found no evidence for meritocracy, and found that the evidence from the literature is not robust. This research improves our understanding of modern China. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Chun studied deadly paediatric cancers called rhabdoid tumours using sophisticated DNA sequencing and computational tools. She revealed diverse molecular characteristics of these cancers and discovered that a subset of tumours had more immune activities than others, thus revealing the potential use of immunotherapy for rhabdoid tumour patients. | Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Child examined how modern US military interrogation systems work. Much more than an interpersonal encounter in a dark room, this research showed that US intelligence agencies frequently model interrogation similar to a vast bureaucratic machine that efficiently processes as many sources and as much information as possible. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geography (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Wijaya studied a novel and mild approach for synthesis of industrially valuable chemicals from woody biomass using water and electricity. High conversion and efficiency can be obtained using an electrochemical reactor with stirred catalyst slurry. This research advances the impact of electrocatalysis on clean and sustainable energy production. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Abdi introduced novel machine learning methods for clinical diagnosis and planning of jaw reconstructive surgeries and cardiovascular interventions. His designs and ideas enable clinicians in decision making via AI-generated insights from echocardiograms, multimodality information fusion, generative modelling, and object tracking. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Wamer studied novel forms of quantum magnetism that correspond to physical systems with a larger number of symmetries. He classified the phases of matter of these systems and deepened our understanding of a large family of theoretical models, whose applicability spans from material science to mathematical physics. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Longstaffe studied the history (1960s-1980s) of marginalized women in Downtown Eastside Vancouver. She offers a new view of gendered and racialized poverty, homelessness, and violence, and the efforts of diverse women to resolve these issues. Her work shows that marginalized women were the most effective at finding solutions to their problems. | Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Firmino discovered that during the immune response to cancers, a low oxygen environment develops among B cells that helps fine-tune the B cell immune response. She associated characteristics of the B cell response with overall survival in breast cancer patients. This work may help develop new biomarkers of immune responses in cancer patients. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Nguyen investigated the characteristics of bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells, which are believed to play a significant role in maintaining and regulating blood stem cells. Deletion of the Hic1 gene was found to expand these cells and further increase the number of blood stem cells, findings that offer great promise to stem cell therapy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Genome Science and Technology (PhD) |
| 2021 | Poor data collection protocols can severely bias statistical methods. Dr. Watson developed elementary space-time statistical methodologies for detecting and mitigating sampling bias. He applied his work to tackle issues in the fields of public health and endangered species conservation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Ramzy studied the role that the hormone insulin plays in the development of insulin-producing beta-cells. He examined a gene therapy approach to treat diabetes and subsequently developed a new theory on how beta-cells produce mature insulin. This work revises a decades old dogma and provides insight into new treatment avenues for diabetes. | Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy (MDPhD) |