At CyBHOR, we provide a multidisciplinary framework for people from academia, clinical practice, and industry to collaborate and advance the field of computational surgery. There are several benefits to partnering with us:

Benefits for Industry Partners

  • Industry-driven projects – Our industry partners decide the research projects to support.
  • Leveraging of Funds – Funding from diverse sources such as federal grants complement industry support. Overhead on the industry member fees to the center is limited to 10% by contract.
  • Strategic networking – Our model promotes interdisciplinary projects thus forming alliances between diverse industries, surgeons, and researchers for developing new industry standards together with members of the public safety sector to improve likelihood of adoption and commercialization.
  • Return on investment – The cost of the membership fee to the company is well below that of hiring an employee for R&D and the company gains access to the following benefits:
    • Research results and inventions highly applicable to your industry
    • Well-tested solutions for industry problems or new innovations
    • Participation and project guidance from senior faculty
    • Collaboration of an interdisciplinary project team bringing diverse perspectives and innovative solutions
    • Interaction and input from the medical community
    • Potential for identifying students for recruitment with instantaneous productivity
    • Access to intellectual property and favorable licensing conditions
    • Pre-publication access to research findings and researchers
    • Multidisciplinary approach that leads to innovative solutions adapted from other industries
  • Access to world class researchers & facilities: The center has facilities at Houston Methodist Research Institute and the University of Florida. Additional national and international sites are in the formative stages. Houston Methodist is also home to the state-of-the-art MITIE that is frequently used by industry members for training and education.
  • Access to outstanding and motivated students: Faculty participating in CyBHOR are routinely sought by students and postdocs from across the world. Students are carefully selected based on their research potential and collaborative spirit.
  • Leverage through NSF Impact: The NSF has long-standing success with the I/UCRC program which provides much of the framework. It facilitates a center environment in which long-term relationships between industry and academia can thrive through:
    • Cooperative agreement & operational framework
    • Franchise of centers for collaboration
    • Best practices based on decades of evaluation
    • Funding opportunities available to I/UCRCs
    • Feedback on progress with NSF yearly evaluation of CyBHOR
  • Alignment with industry partners: CyBHOR continuously aligns and refines its goals in collaboration with partners. This makes the center’s research particularly relevant to long-term industry needs whether it relates to core technologies or specific projects.

Benefits for surgeons and other healthcare providers

  • Staying on the cutting edge: CyBHOR offers the opportunity to learn about the newest and most innovative modalities in the surgical space.
  • Driving innovation: Collaborating with and integrating into our multi-disciplinary team allows surgeons and other healthcare providers to directly influence the direction of research.
  • Using novel approaches for medical problems: Employ mathematical modeling to predict tissue healing, use digital systems to predict behavior and changes to organ systems or multi-scale approaches to model performance of implanted surgical devices.
  • Opportunity to collaborate with trusted industry participants, and by doing so work closely with those that can help bring innovation to the medical community.
  • Sharing of knowledge: Participation in projects and conversation with students and researchers will allow ample opportunity to share a wealth of knowledge.
  • Build a broad national and international network: Through collaboration and bi-annual meetings you will build multi-disciplinary partnerships across the nation and beyond.
  • Develop funding opportunities through industry partners and federal sources for cross-disciplinary projects.
  • Publish in high-impact journals: Research done through the center is published and contributors are fairly included as authors.

Benefits for faculty

  • Expanded focus for research and education: Collaboration and networking with a multidisciplinary team will open new research opportunities and allow for a fresh approach to problems.
  • Leverage proof of concept results: The opportunity to work with industry partners and healthcare providers will take research from the bench to the real-world application.
  • Build long-term, trusted partnerships: Long-term interaction with researchers, surgeons and industry will provide the bases for productive partnerships for tackling new and exciting problems.
  • Make a real-world impact: Collaboration with industry partners and healthcare providers will offer the opportunity to bring discoveries and innovations to market, gaining the satisfaction of improving patients’ lives.
  • Recruit the best students and trainees: Working with CyBHOR will offer students opportunity to learn real-world applications of academic teachings, thus aiding faculty in recruitment, retention and post-graduation placement of students.
  • Innovate: Develop novel insights and solutions through frequent interactions with multidisciplinary teams offering very different approaches to problems.
  • Build the basis for translational research: Bridge the divide between university research, product development and market release through close collaboration with industry and users.

Benefits for students

  • Be part of an innovative group: CyBHOR exposes students to an emerging and exciting new field of science and engineering.
  • Involvement in real world applications: Students are exposed to real industrial needs and practice, as well as the academic world of research.
  • Credit: More than ever, your hard work is rewarded based on merit and productivity thanks to a generous financial support from the center.
  • Exposure and improved job prospects: Visibility to industry partners increases the chances of finding a job in the industry.
  • Human impact: Work directly impacts patient care.
  • Networking: You can create a wide professional network by meeting and working with people from different fields and from all over the world.
  • Interdisciplinary collaborations: Students work with a very high profile team of surgeons and scientists with expertise in different fields, from engineering to biology, from computer science to surgery.
  • Develop project planning skills: Students learn to manage a project rigorously and progress performance thanks to the center organization and tutorial support.

Membership Agreement