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The HIBAR Research Alliance

Expanding Highly Integrative Basic And Responsive Research To Accelerate Service To Society

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Upcoming Webinar: Enhancing precision medical procedures

Enhancing precision medical procedures

At the forefront of technologies to improve robot-assisted surgery and diagnostics

April 2025

Recent advances in robotics and control have enabled the vast majority of current surgeries in North America to be carried out in a minimally invasive manner, which leads to shorter hospital stays and faster recovery for patients. However, there remains a lack of guidance tools available to surgeons for real-time visualization of internal structures within the body, and new technologies are needed to enhance these precision medical procedures.

The Robotics Control Laboratory at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is a leading research facility at the forefront of image-guided diagnosis and interventions. Technologies developed in the laboratory have advanced real-time video imagery for medical procedures, and have been integrated into products sold around the world.

In this webinar, Dr. Tim Salcudean, Professor in the UBC Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and one leaders of the Robotics Control Laboratory, highlighted research projects that he has co-led in this field, including advanced imaging techniques to guide robotic surgeries and novel ultrasound-based technologies for assessing liver disease. He described the important role that partners in industry have played in these projects, as well as the challenges and opportunities that these partnerships can generate.  

Key Takeaway Messages

Given the right conditions, a research effort can evolve to become a HIBAR project.

It takes time and effort to develop the personal relationships needed for a HIBAR project.

HIBAR projects can provide valuable teaching and training infrastructure for students.

Read the key takeaway messages from all of our webinars here.

Watch the full webinar recording

Watch key excerpts from the webinar

Webinar Speaker

Dr. Tim Salcudean

University of British Columbia

Dr. Tim Salcudean is Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of British Columbia, and holds a Canada Research Chair and the C.A. Laszlo Chair in Biomedical Engineering. Formerly, he was part of the robotics group at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, and the editor of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation. His research focuses on ultrasound, teleoperation and image-guided surgical robotics.

Upcoming Webinar: From Research to Action

From Research to Action

How USC’s Public Exchange Is Bridging the Gap for Real-World Solutions

March 2025

Some of the greatest research breakthroughs of the 20th century emerged from powerful collaborations between academia, government, industry, and non-profits. However, this cross-sector synergy has faded in recent years. The result? Fewer Highly Integrative Basic And Responsive (HIBAR) projects and a disconnect that slows innovation and limits the full potential of academic expertise.

One organization working to change this dynamic is Public Exchange. This pioneering program at the University of Southern California (USC) bridges the gap between research and public and private sector stakeholders. Acting as both a matchmaker and project manager, Public Exchange connects experts across disciplines with external partners tackling complex societal issues—providing the support they need to solve some of our biggest challenges.

In this engaging webinar, three Public Exchange team members shared:

  • How Public Exchange empowers academic researchers to collaborate with external partners.
  • Examples of current Public Exchange-led HIBAR projects that are making a difference.
  • Practical steps universities can take to foster more HIBAR research.

Watch the webinar to learn how this innovative model is reinvigorating research partnerships—and what institutions can do to fuel more breakthroughs that truly matter.

Key Takeaway Messages

New research centers are often keen to pursue HIBAR project partnerships.

Momentum tends to beget momentum.

Participating in a HIBAR project often broadens career opportunities for graduate students.

“Bridge builders” on HIBAR project teams can help translate research results into actionable resources.

Many academic researchers enthusiastically embrace support to develop and sustain HIBAR projects.

Read the key takeaway messages from all of our webinars here.

Watch the full webinar recording

Watch key excerpts from the webinar

Webinar Speakers

Kate Weber

Executive Director
USC Public Exchange

Kate Weber is the Executive Director of Public Exchange. She brings more than ten years of federal experience to USC from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where she developed environmental protection, health, civil society and infrastructure development projects across five countries

John Fanning

Senior Project Manager
USC Public Exchange

John Fanning is a Senior Project Manager at Public Exchange. He brings more than ten years of social impact experience directing project teams and programs, cultivating collaborations, and building partnerships internationally across non- profit, academic, media, and education sectors.

Marianna Babboni

Senior Project Manager
USC Public Exchange

Marianna Babboni is a Senior Project Manager at Public Exchange. In her current role, she leads social impact partnerships between academics and the public and private sector in areas of study including climate communications, food security, and sustainable urban forestry.

Highlighting Consensus-Driven Development of an Important New Standard

Highlighting Consensus-Driven Development of an Important New Standard

Balancing Competing Interests in Lighting Quality and Energy Use

February 2025

If you’ve bought a light bulb recently, you’ve likely encountered an overwhelming number of choices. This stems from two major trends: the growing demand for energy-efficient products and advancements in light emitting diodes (LEDs), which create more light per watt and offer a wider range of color-related qualities.

As LEDs started replacing incandescent bulbs in the 2000s, it became clear that a new evaluation standard was required to balance the competing goals of lighting quality and energy efficiency. The Illuminating Engineering Society‘s Color Committee—comprising experts in human perception, lighting research, interior design, energy engineering, and manufacturing—took on the challenge. By synthesizing research findings and existing methodologies, they developed TM-30, a standardized system for specifying and rating the color rendition of light sources.

In this webinar, Dr. Michael Royer (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) and Dr. Kevin Houser (Oregon State University) discussed the committee’s challenges, the collaborative approaches that led to both the creation and widespread adoption of TM-30, and key lessons for other HIBAR projects—including the benefits of aligning a project’s leadership structure with its goals.

Key Takeaway Messages

Politics and opposition to change can be significant barriers to progress for a HIBAR project.

Contributions to HIBAR projects are often not valued as highly as they should be by university promotion and tenure processes.

A small group of highly vested and active collaborators often drives progress.

Early career team members can develop HIBAR leadership skills with the help of mentorship from experienced colleagues.

If a group has established trust and a sense of urgency, it can more efficiently make decisions and reach consensus.

Persistent effort is necessary to turn HIBAR research results into lasting impact.

Read the key takeaway messages from all of our webinars here.

Watch the full webinar recording

Watch key excerpts from the webinar

Webinar Speakers

Michael Royer

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Dr. Michael Royer is a chief engineer at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), where he leads the core lighting research sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. He conducts experiments to help refine metrics and specification guidance, with the ultimate goals of advancing lighting quality to improve building occupants’ satisfaction and wellbeing while increasing the use of energy efficient lighting technologies. Michael is a Fellow of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) and serves on the IES Vision Science committee and the IES Color committee.

Kevin Houser

Oregon State University

Dr. Kevin Houser is a Professor in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University, and he holds a joint appointment as Chief Engineer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. His work focuses on human perceptual and biological responses to light and applications of light within the built environment. Kevin is co-founder of Lyralux, Inc., a Fellow of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) and former editor-in-chief of LEUKOS, the IES journal.

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Improving Safe Behaviors on the Roadways​

Improving Safe Behaviors on the Roadways

Research and Education for Driving Safety

January 2025

The prevalence of motor vehicle crashes remains a significant problem, causing not only physical and emotional harm to victims and their families but also imposing significant costs on society as a whole. The Transportation Research and Education for Driving Safety (TREDS) Center at the University of California San Diego is addressing this problem, using a multidisciplinary approach to understand the human behaviors contributing to crashes, and designing and implementing interventions to improve safe driving and thereby prevent crashes.

The TREDS team brings cross-sectoral expertise in public health, medical engineering, law enforcement, and neuroscience to better understand how fatigue, distraction, impairment, and aging driver challenges contribute to motor vehicle accidents. They have developed multiple evidence-based curricula to promote safe driving behaviors, and their resulting “train the trainer” courses have been embraced across the U.S. by health professionals, law enforcement officers, safety educators, and community organizations.

In this webinar, Dr. Linda Hill, TREDS Director, and Retired California Highway Patrol Officer Jake Sanchez described the significant and ongoing collaboration between TREDS and the California Highway Patrol to develop and deliver curriculum across a variety of driving safety-related topics. They shared how the results of cross-sectoral and multidisciplinary research have been vital for understanding the many complex factors that relate to safe driving, and for determining how to deliver material in a way that drives positive behavior change.

Key Takeaway Messages

Mutual respect, shared goals, and diverse perspectives often lead to new and impactful outcomes.

Partnerships are most effective if you can find individuals who share your passion for solving a problem.

Cultivating support as senior leadership changes within your organization can help sustain long-term partnerships.

Complex societal problems need cross-sectoral teams to address them.

Read the key takeaway messages from all of our webinars here.

Watch the full webinar recording

Watch key excerpts from the webinar

Webinar Speakers

Linda Hill

University of California San Diego

Linda Hill, MD, is a Distinguished Professor and Founding Faculty of the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health at UC San Diego. In her role as the Director of the Transportation Research and Education for Driving Safety Center (TREDS), she is engaged in prevention research and teaching.

Jake Sanchez

California Highway Patrol

Jake Sanchez recently retired as a Public Information Officer for the California Highway Patrol. As part of this role, he collaborated with the TREDS team as they developed and delivered courses to promote safe driving behaviors among commercial truck drivers, the general public, and older adults.

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Launching HIBAR Research Buddies

Launching HIBAR Research Buddies

A student-led effort to build a community

October 2024

HIBAR Research Buddies is an innovative student-led project at the University of British Columbia (UBC) to build a community of graduate students who care deeply about engaging directly, through their research, with experts working outside of academia. Community activities focus on impactful Highly Integrative Basic And Responsive (HIBAR) research projects, emphasizing the value of co-leadership and co-production by academics and external experts – a topic that is intrinsic to all HIBAR projects and typically not addressed in graduate student curriculum.

To learn more about the HIBAR Research Buddies, read the pilot project report here. 

Many graduate students are eager to make a societal impact through their research but struggle to find opportunities, partly due to the traditionally inward focus of academic research. This project seeks to build a supportive community for students, particularly for those who feel disconnected, helping them see how university research can address societal needs and fostering a greater sense of belonging within academia. Community activities emphasize the vital role that graduate students can take within HIBAR research teams, and highlight opportunities for students to participate in activities that will, over time, help to change the academic culture toward more societally-engaged research. 

HIBAR Research Buddies was launched in April 2023 as a 1-year pilot project, led by a team of nine graduate students from UBC’s Vancouver and Okanagan campuses. Their efforts demonstrated that there is clear and significant interest among UBC graduate students across both campuses to belong to the HIBAR Research Buddies community.

In this webinar, project leaders shared lessons learned from this pilot project over the past year, as well as the resulting framework for future activities that can help to build a vibrant and engaged community over the next several years, both at UBC and beyond.

Key Takeaway Messages

Faculty members can help graduate students to connect with HIBAR projects.

Students benefit if they take initiative to build connections outside of academia.

Peer support is really valuable for students working on HIBAR projects.

Increased funding enable students to develop stronger cross-sectoral relationships.

Connection to a societal problem makes a research project more meaningful.

Read the key takeaway messages from all of our webinars here.

Watch the full webinar recording

Watch key excerpts from the webinar

Webinar Speakers

The HIBAR Research Buddies pilot project at UBC was funded by:
  • UBC Science Strategic Innovation Fund
  • Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Endowment
  • UBC Faculty of Applied Science
  • UBC Faculty of Forestry
  • UBC Faculty of Health and Social Development
  • Walter H. Gage Memorial Fund
  • Tuum Est Student Initiative Fund

For more details about HIBAR Research Buddies, please contact the leadership team by email at hibar.b@ubc.ca.

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Modernizing scholarship for the public good

Modernizing scholarship for the public good

An action framework for public research universities​​

June 2024

The problems facing communities, regions, countries, and the globe are increasingly multifaceted and complex – challenging public research universities to expand and renew how they deliver on their missions for a new era.  In response to these challenges, the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU) launched the Modernizing Scholarship for the Public Good initiative, with a goal of spurring more publicly engaged and impactful research.

This initiative culminated in an extensive action framework that offers guidance to public research universities on ways that they can support scholars and advance publicly engaged and impactful research, with special attention to the ways that diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice are integral to this work.

In 2021, Dr. Elyse Aurbach was named a Civic Science Fellow, co-hosted by APLU and the University of Michigan’s Office of the Vice President for Research, to lead this multi-institutional project. In this webinar, she described the framework and highlighted institutional examples from universities that have successfully taken such action, focusing on strategic actions that institutions can take to encourage and enable more Highly Integrative Basic and Responsive (HIBAR) projects.

Here are several key links that Dr. Aurbach shared during the presentation:

Key Takeaway Messages

There are no “one size fits all” strategies that will enable organizational change at all universities.

Significant and sustained change requires a lot of time and/or resources.

Organizational culture eats policy, procedure, and practice for lunch.

Look for opportunities to lay the groundwork for future change efforts.

Our collective progress is hindered by the lack of shared terminology about impactful, engaged research.

Institutional change efforts are most effective when they include meaningful assessment tools.

Meaningful, sustained change is often a result of a long-term, deliberative process.

Read the key takeaway messages from all of our webinars here.

Watch the full webinar recording

Watch key excerpts from the webinar

Webinar Speaker

Elyse Aurbach

University of Michigan

Elyse Aurbach is Director for Public Engagement & Research Impacts in the University of Michigan’s Office of Research. In this role, Dr. Aurbach develops strategy and oversees a team to support university faculty in their public engagement efforts. She previously served as Public Engagement Lead with the Center for Academic Innovation, overseeing the center’s role in a Presidential strategic focus area on faculty public engagement, and pursued a double-life as a scientist studying the neurobiological underpinnings of major depression and leading a number of projects to improve science communication and public engagement.

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Understanding chemical exposure to improve community health

Understanding chemical exposure to improve community health

Detecting environmental contaminants within the Yurok Tribal Community

June 2024

Recent increases in adverse health conditions among Yurok Tribal members living on the Yurok reservation in northwestern California have intensified concern among tribal members that contaminants from nearby forestry and agriculture activities may be a causative factor.

Research collaborators from the Yurok Tribe Environmental Department and the University of California Davis launched a co-led project to better understand this exposure risk. In this study, the team uses silicone wristbands to collect data on personal chemical exposures of tribal members, in order to identify potential differences in the level and type of contaminant exposures by gender, location of residence, season, and life activities. It is anticipated that data on contaminant exposure from the wristbands may correlate with contaminant detections in soil and water, thus creating a more complete dataset on environmental contaminants and pathways of exposure.

In this webinar, project co-leaders Joe Hostler and Beth Rose Middleton described how this project was initiated, the steps that were taken to develop shared leadership, and how the new understanding generated by the work will inform policies and thereby reduce detrimental health impacts, for the benefit of current and future generations of tribal members.

Key Takeaway Messages

When long-term, trusted relationships are established, they often lead to new HIBAR projects.

It is important for academics to recognize that non-profit and community partners may need additional resources.

Universities can support HIBAR projects by recognizing that they require more time and flexibility.

By emphasizing aligned values, organizations can create a supportive environment for HIBAR projects.

Respectful approaches to data sovereignty are really important in HIBAR projects.

Read the key takeaway messages from all of our webinars here.

Watch the full webinar recording

Watch key excerpts from the webinar

Webinar Speakers

Beth Rose Middleton

UC Davis

Beth Rose Middleton is a Professor of Native American Studies at UC Davis. Her research centers on Native environmental policy and Native activism for site protection using conservation tools. Her broader research interests include environmental and climate justice, fire policy, intergenerational trauma and healing, Native land stewardship, rural environmental justice, Indigenous analysis of climate change, Afro-indigeneity, and qualitative GIS.

Joe Hostler

Yurok Tribe Environmental Department

Joe Hostler is an Environmental Scientist with the Yurok Tribe Environmental Department, located along the lower Klamath River in northwest California. He is a Traditional Cultural Practitioner and an Indigenous Scientist who utilizes Western Science with Traditional Ecological Knowledge to help protect the health of the people, plants, animals, and environment for the benefit of current and future generations. 

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Upcoming Webinar: In Pursuit of Water-Health Equity For Indigenous and Rural Communities

In Pursuit of Water-Health Equity For Indigenous and Rural Communities

Delivering Sustainable Solutions With Next Generation Partnerships and Ecosystems

May 2024

Rural communities face challenges of growing complexity which require increasing breadth and depth of skills, all in support of expanding community solutions. This requires innovators to adopt new strategies and internal capabilities.

Community Circle (formerly the Reseau Centre for Mobilizing Innovation) is a nonprofit center of excellence dedicated to the design and implementation of innovative solutions for drinking water quality and community health in Indigenous and rural communities. Community Circle’s problem-solving approach empowers communities to define success on their unique terms, while building grassroots trust and confidence in proposed solutions to drive projects from concept to execution and beyond.

In this webinar, Community Circle leaders Madjid Mohseni and Irving Leblanc described the practices required to upgrade partnering arrangements from basic research to full solution-oriented and end-to-end ecosystems.  They shared insights about how a deep partnership between researchers and community members developed through an initial collaborative project to improve water quality, building a solid foundation from which a wide range of projects have been launched. Together, the Community Circle team has solved several long-standing boil water advisories in rural settings, redefining sustainability, the economics of drinking water, and community health along the way.

Key Takeaway Messages

Communities co-leading HIBAR projects need to share equally in the benefits of the project outcomes.

A culture change is needed for academic researchers to shift their focus to what society truly needs.

Communities participating in co-production through HIBAR projects take pride in the positive outcomes.

The time required to build trusted relationships is often not compatible with typical grant funding cycles.

Long-term funding commitments are often required to sustain the positive outcomes of community-based HIBAR projects.

Read the key takeaway messages from all of our webinars here.

Watch the full webinar recording

Watch key excerpts from the webinar

Webinar Speakers

Madjid Mohseni

University of British Columbia

Madjid Mohseni is a professor of chemical, biological and environmental engineering at the University of British Columbia. An internationally renowned expert in drinking water quality and advanced water treatment processes, he is the the Scientific Director and co-founder of Community Circle.

Irving Leblanc

Community Circle

Irving Leblanc, P. Eng., is Former Director, Infrastructure at the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). He is the Chair of the Board and the Co-director of Community Circle and has been involved in its governance and evolution since 2008.

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Broadening Faculty Reward Systems to Support Societally-Impactful Research

Broadening Faculty Reward Systems to Support Societally-Impactful Research

A landscape scan of promising steps taken by universities

December 2023

Academic reward systems often evaluate a faculty member’s scholarly impact primarily using citation counts and publication metrics, and fail to sufficiently recognize their contributions that impact society, for example through policy outcomes, community development, and technological innovation. There is increasing awareness of the need to adjust the incentive system to better reward societally-impactful research, and that doing so may help universities retain talented faculty, deepen public trust, and increase the impact of their research on issues of global and local significance.

Participants in the Transforming Evidence Funders Network (TEFN), facilitated by The Pew Charitable Trusts, recently commissioned a landscape scan of promising reforms to faculty reward systems. This scan draws upon and analyzes insights from 13 universities and 10 organizations in the United States to illustrate the extent and variety of initiatives underway to enhance recognition of societally-impactful scholarship. It also highlights opportunities for funders to accelerate and sustain these efforts.

You can download a copy of the landscape scan report here.

Webinar speakers Emily Ozer and Jennifer Renick, two co-authors of the report, described some of the promising approaches revealed by the scan, lessons learned from their own efforts to promote and achieve institutional changes, and some of the many opportunities to accelerate this work.

Key Takeaway Messages

Funders can accelerate universities’ efforts to broaden faculty reward systems.

It is important to evaluate the impact of institutional change efforts.

Institutional change efforts can be greatly accelerated through sharing across peer networks.

Faculty often identify their research as “societally impactful” when inclusive definitions are used.

Read the key takeaway messages from all of our webinars here.

Watch the full webinar recording

Watch key excerpts from the webinar

Webinar Speakers

Dr. Emily Ozer

University of California Berkeley

Emily J. Ozer is a psychologist and Professor of Community Health Sciences at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and the UC-Berkeley Faculty Liaison to the EVCP (Executive VC/Provost) on Public Scholarship and Engagement. Her research focuses on promoting the healthy development and empowerment of adolescents, bridging participatory research approaches and prevention science in school-based interventions.

Jennifer Renick

Dr. Jennifer Renick

University of Memphis

Jennifer Renick is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology & Research at the University of Memphis. Her community-engaged research focuses on the intersection of community, developmental, and educational psychology, specifically on how to improve school climate and connection for historically underserved adolescents.

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Supporting Inclusive Recognition of Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Supporting Inclusive Recognition of Innovation & Entrepreneurship

An overview of the Promotion & Tenure – Innovation & Entrepreneurship (PTIE) effort

November 2023

Universities today can, and should, enable greater contributions toward solving society’s critical problems while also boosting academic excellence. To do so, universities must ensure that promotion and tenure processes fairly assess and value entrepreneurial, innovative endeavors that can produce the kind of societal impacts that universities are increasingly being called on to provide.

Oregon State University, with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation, facilitated a national conversation on how to inclusively recognize innovation & entrepreneurship impact by university faculty in promotion, tenure, and advancement guidelines and practices. This led to the creation of the Promotion & Tenure Innovation & Entrepreneurship (PTIE) effort, which now involves more than 65 U.S. institutions and numerous national stakeholder organizations. This work has resulted in a comprehensive set of recommendations for promotion and tenure reform.

Webinar speakers Rich Carter and Almesha Campbell described the networked-systems approach PTIE has taken to develop a nationwide coalition. They shared how universities can use the resulting framework to better align the intellectual capabilities of their faculty with an innovation economy, and how the strategy can be broadly applicable, beyond innovation and entrepreneurship, to recognize the many and evolving dimensions along which faculty create societal impacts.

Key Takeaway Messages

Promotion and tenure reform requires champions at all levels.

Through networks, proponents of change efforts gain access to credible external champions.

There is a considerable appetite for broadening incentive systems to support societally-impactful research.

The intent of promotion reform is to remove a disconnect by rewarding faculty for efforts that the university already values.

Read the key takeaway messages from all of our webinars here.

Watch the full webinar recording

Watch key excerpts from the webinar

Webinar Speakers

Dr. Rich Carter

Oregon State University

Rich Carter is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Faculty Lead for Innovation Excellence in the Office of Research at Oregon State University. He is the Principal Investigator of the NSF-funded program that led to the creation of the PTIE effort.

Dr. Almesha Campbell

Jackson State University

Almesha Campbell is the Assistant Vice President for Research and Economic Development at Jackson State University (JSU). For over 10 years, she served as the Director for Technology Transfer and Commercialization at JSU and continues to manage the intellectual property process from triage of invention disclosures to commercialization.

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