meet the team

Jeff Barbee, DMA – Director

Jeff Barbee is the Director and a research specialist with the Office of Curriculum and Scholarship at The Ohio State University. In this role, Jeff works with faculty and researchers to design, implement, and disseminate educational research studies to improve student learning and outcomes. He finds great satisfaction in helping teams of researchers work through their studies and sharing their findings either through manuscripts, posters, or oral presentations. Jeff enjoys spending time with his family, playing music, watching football, and having a good laugh. He is always eager to work on a challenging project that will force him to further develop his skills. Prior to joining OCS, Jeff was an assessment and evaluation specialist for the Indiana University School of Medicine.

Lisa Ibarra, MAT – Educational Technologist

Lisa has identified as an educator for her entire life: every job she has ever had has centered around teaching. Her roles in the Office of Curriculum and Scholarship have followed this tradition and she is grateful that she gets to continue teaching others as OCS’s inaugural Educational Technologist.

Lisa holds a MA in Teaching in Literature degree from Bard College and a BA in English degree from Trinity University. She taught high school English in Ohio, North Carolina, and Massachusetts for nine years before moving into higher education. As educational technologist, Lisa helps teams work more efficiently by building Power Automate Flows and by providing training on the suite of Microsoft 365 tools, CarmenCanvas, CarmenZoom, ScarletCanvas, Qualtrics, WordPress, and EchoVideo. Through her work at the College of Medicine, Lisa hopes to convey her firm belief that technology and the humanities should be equally valued in the service of creating a more just and literate world.

Jaclyn Gish Lieberman, EdD – Instructional Designer

Jackie Gish-Lieberman, EdD is an Instructional Designer Senior Specialist at the Office of Curriculum and Scholarship at The Ohio State University. Her role is to support the continuous improvement of medical education within the college, which can manifest in a variety of projects. She works with clinical faculty and residents to fill gaps in the existing curriculum, translating their expertise into effective, accessible, and inclusive learning materials. She has also developed high-stakes technical training, such as for standardizing the management of controlled substances in medical research. She frequently designs, develops, and evaluates educational materials for clinical faculty professional development including enhancing instructional and educational research skill sets.

Prior to her current position, Jackie also conducted learning experience design research especially focused on marginalized populations (e.g., BIPOC women in STEM studies, International Graduate Teaching Assistants, urban youth, etc.). She came from an extensive background in instruction and curriculum development for adult English Language Learners, having taught both in the United States and in numerous countries abroad for the U.S. Department of State.

Robert McCord, MS – Instructional Designer

After receiving a BA in English from Michigan State University, Robbie taught middle school language arts for two years in Baltimore while attending Johns Hopkins University in order to obtain his teaching licensure. He then moved to Philadelphia where he completed a MS in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Robbie taught international students within the intensive language programs at Drexel University, UPenn, and Michigan State. As his interests evolved, he transitioned from the classroom to language assessment development at the University of Michigan. Upon moving to Columbus, Robbie worked first as an academic designer at McGraw-Hill Education and then came to Ohio State as an instructional designer in the Office of Business and Finance. During this time, he obtained an MA in Learning Technologies from OSU. Now at the College of Medicine, Robbie works with faculty to develop courses, primarily within the ScarletCanvas platform. He loves all aspects of instructional design: the meeting of minds, the breakthroughs, the challenges, the innovations. When he is not designing, Robbie is exploring Columbus with his wife and son, or is out for a run.

Kerry Rubadue, MLT – Instructional Designer

Kerry Rubadue earned her master’s degree in Learning Technologies through the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University, where she also received her Bachelor of Science in English Education and K-12 Reading endorsement.

Kerry serves as an Instructional Design Senior Specialist in the Office of Curriculum and Scholarship (OCS). Kerry supports OCS by collaborating with College of Medicine (COM) faculty to promote educational strategies and innovations that increase learner engagement and improve learning outcomes. Kerry spearheaded a novel Teaching Methodologies research project and associated instructor self-assessment tool, and has contributed curriculum design, project evaluation, and instructional design leadership to numerous projects in OCS, several of which were selected for presentation at the Annual Education Symposium and other national conferences.

Prior to working at Ohio State, Kerry planned and implemented the Medical Leadership Program for faculty at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Before that experience, Kerry was a Project and Program Manager at all “big three” educational publishers, Pearson, McGraw-Hill, and Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt, where she managed the development and production of hundreds of teacher higher education print and digital products. Additionally, Kerry taught English and Reading at Thomas Worthington High School.

Rich Thompson, PhD, MDiv, MPS, RPC – Research Specialist

Rich Thompson is a Research Specialist with the Office of Curriculum and Scholarship at The Ohio State University. Rich works with faculty and other researchers in this role to design, implement, and disseminate educational research studies to improve student learning and practice-related outcomes.

With OSU’s College of Social Work, his research interests have included addiction recovery, well-being, resilience, and health-related outcomes. Rich comes to OCS with a decade of clinical experience as a board-certified hospital chaplain, serving primarily in critical care, emergency, and palliative care services across several hospital systems. This meaningful clinical practice informs his research by providing context for his research efforts. He finds great satisfaction in helping researchers apply their work to functional work outcomes and sharing it through manuscripts, oral presentations, and visualizations.

Outside of his work with OCS, Rich has been active in the community, supporting individuals in the beginning stages of addiction recovery. He enjoys deep conversations with people from all walks of life. In his time away from research, he enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, hiking in the National Parks, and reading. He is a determined learner who enjoys working with researchers to develop research skills further.

Karla Shockley McCarthy, PhD, LMSW, FSW, TRCC – Research Specialist

Karla Shockley McCarthy serves as a Research Specialist with the Office of Curriculum and Scholarship at The Ohio State University. In her role, Karla enjoys collaborating with faculty to plan, execute, and disseminate medical education research studies. These studies aim to enhance student learning and outcomes linked to practice, apply best practices, and explore innovative teaching approaches.

In addition to her research role, Karla is a licensed therapist and educator. She focuses on the realms of values, identity, and belongingness to enhance the well-being and resilience of students from primary through post-secondary education. She also works to improve the occupational well-being and resilience of the helping and health professionals that serve these students. Her research extends to investigating child and family resilience and well-being within educational, financial, and familial contexts.

Karla holds a BA in history with an economics concentration from Allegheny College, secondary social studies certification from the University of Pittsburgh, and a social work master’s, PhD and Anti-Racism in Education certification from The Ohio State University. In her leisure time, she explores National Parks and attends sporting events with her family, serves on the board of a humane society and education-focused organizations, and advocates for twice-exceptional students.

Lauren Smith – Research Assistant

Lauren Smith is a research assistant for OCS, working with members of the research team to provide The Ohio State University College of Medicine faculty and staff with program evaluation and educational research needs.