University of Wisconsin–Madison

News & Events

Paper Published in Surgical Endoscopy

Gonzales, A., Dhar, S., Ball, M., Carbonell, A. M., & Cha, J. S. (2026). Physical demands of hernia repair segments and the effect of exoskeleton support. Surgical Endoscopy, 1-17.

Cha gives invited presentation at IISE 2026

Presented “Objective and Subjective Evaluation of Non-Technical Skills and Technical Leadership Skills During Simulated Critical Care Scenarios” during the IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics & Human Factors Invited Research Showcase at the 2026 IISE Annual Conference & Expo.

Paper Published in Journal of Safety Research

Gonzales, A., Barbieri, D. F., Srinivasan, D., Carbonell, A. M., Joseph, A., & Cha, J. S. (2026). Exoskeletons as a potential intervention to support simulated perioperative staff tasks. Journal of Safety Research, 97, 581-597.

Cha Moderates Panel on Ethics in Robotic Surgery at ISMR 2026

Jackie Cha moderates a panel on “Ethics of Using Data from Semi-Automated Surgical Robots” at the International Symposium of Medical Robotics 2026. https://sites.google.com/view/ismr2026ethicsworkshop

Undergraduate Researchers Present at 2026 Undergraduate Symposium

Undergraduate researchers presented at the 28th annual Undergraduate Symposium on April 17, 2026. https://ugradsymposium.wisc.edu/ Bohan Jia and Seba Al Tawfiq – “Hacked on the Table: Cognitive and Communication Responses to Simulated Cyberattacks in Surgery” Annika Alva and Dhruv Vir – “Solving the Spatial Puzzle: How Team Positioning Predicts Performance in Robotic-Assisted Surgery” Harvey Ji – …

Cha Co-Chairs and Presents at 2026 HFES Healthcare Robotics Summit

Jackie Cha co-chairs Healthcare Robotics Summit at the HFES International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFES) in Health Care on March 22, 2026, in New York, New York. She also presented, “SAGES Tool for Assessing Robotic Surgery Systems (STARSS).” https://www.hfes.org/Events/Health-Care-Symposium/Program/Healthcare-Robotics-Summit

Perspective Published in Journal of the American College of Surgeons

Cha, J. S., Tucker, E. L., Lauer, K. V., & Smith, B. (2023). Who Picks Up the Slack? Impact of Interprofessional Role Ambiguity on Resident Education, Team Function, and Patient Care. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 10-1097.

Gonzales graduates with PhD

Alec Gonzales received his PhD from Clemson University on December 17, 2025. He began his PhD program in August 2021 and has since then published 10 peer-reviewed articles, presented 10 oral and 23 poster presentations at local and international conferences, and mentored 18 undergraduate and graduate students.

Paper Published in Human Factors

Fuller, P., Duffie, H., Li, D., Carbonell, A., Perkins, N., & Cha, J. S. (2026). Cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities in robotic-assisted surgery. Human Factors, 68(4), 447-469.

Paper Published in IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems

Ball, M. J., Khademi, A., Carbonell, A. M., & Cha, J. S. (2025). Application of an Information Gain Model in a Motor Learning Laparoscopic Surgery Task. IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems.