The Live in Motion Foundation named Brian Hafner, PhD, as the recipient of its 2026 Pilot Research Grant, a $30,000 award supporting innovative research with the potential to advance orthotic, prosthetic, and pedorthic care. 
Hafner is a professor in the University of Washington Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, adjunct professor in the UW Department of Mechanical Engineering, director of research for the UW Division of Prosthetics & Orthotics, and director of the UW Center on Outcomes Research in Rehabilitation. He has a mechanical engineering degree from Oklahoma State University, a doctorate in bioengineering from UW, and a certificate in prosthetics from Northwestern University.
His primary research interests include improving measurement of health-related outcomes, evaluating the efficacy and effectiveness of O&P technologies, and assessing function, health, and quality-of-life in people with disabling health conditions.
