Each semester, the Connell School brings to Boston College an inspiring leader who speaks on an issue at the forefront of health care. Pinnacle lectures are open to all Boston College students, staff, faculty, alumni, and preceptors as well as practitioners and scholars unaffiliated with Boston College. View archived videos of past Pinnacle lectures.
FALL 2024
SPEAKER
SPEAKER
SPEAKER
MODERATOR
Ann Wolbert Burgess, D.N.Sc., APRN, FAAN, is an internationally recognized pioneer in the assessment and treatment of victims of trauma and abuse. She has received numerous honors including the Sigma Theta Tau International Audrey Hepburn Award, the American Nurses’ Association Hildegard Peplau Award, and the Sigma Theta Tau International Episteme Laureate Award.Â
Her research with victims began when she co-founded, with Boston College sociologist Lynda Lytle Holmstrom, one of the first hospital-based crisis counseling programs at Boston City Hospital. She then worked with FBI Academy special agents to study serial offenders, and the links between child abuse, juvenile delinquency, and subsequent perpetration. Her work with Boston College nursing colleague Carol Hartman led to the study of very young victims and the impact of trauma on their growth and development, their families and communities. Her work continues in the study of elder abuse in nursing homes, cyberstalking, and Internet sex crimes. She teaches courses in Victimology, Forensic Science, Forensic Mental Health, Case Studies in Forensics, and Forensic Science Lab.
Victor Petreca, Ph.D., D.N.P., PMHNP-òòò½Ö±²¥, CNP, is a board-certified advanced practice psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner. He has extensive experience in psychiatry (including forensics and personality disorders), correctional health care, psychopharmacology, and risk assessment.Â
His research focuses on forensic psychiatry and mental health, examining issues related to victimology, sexual trauma, sexual offending, and violent behavior (e.g., mutilation and strangulation). His research is also funded by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health to explore jail diversion programs, working closely with law enforcement and forensic clinicians to assess and optimize behavioral crisis responses. In his clinical work, he has performed psychiatric evaluations and managed the mental health care of individuals in several correctional facilities. He also performs psychiatric evaluations and psychopharmacological management for individuals who are under supervision of the Federal Bureau of Prisons as they reintegrate into society.
Jeff Wood, M.S., worked as a special agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation for more than 20 years, where he conducted complex criminal investigations targeting violent street gangs including the Bloods, Crips, Gangsta Disciples, Hell’s Angels, Latin Kings, and MS-13. An expert in interviewing and interrogations, violent crime investigations, and the creation of multi-agency investigative task forces, Wood provided expert witness testimony in federal and state courts.
He began his career in the United States Army as an airborne Ranger serving in Panama, where he was a rifle platoon leader and a scout/sniper platoon leader. Upon returning to the U.S., he served as a rifle platoon leader and company executive officer in Washington, D.C.
After leaving the Army, Wood spent two years in the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, protecting U.S. and foreign dignitaries including Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. He also served as assistant regional security officer in the U.S. Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ann Burgess, Victor Petreca, and Jeff Wood are the Dr. Maureen P. McCausland Pinnacle Keynote Speakers for fall 2024.
This nursing continuing professional development activity is designated for contact hour(s) provided by Boston College Connell School of Nursing Professional Development and Continuing Education.Â
Boston Connell School of Nursing Professional Development and Continuing Education is approved as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by The American Nurses Association Massachusetts, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.Â
Chief Nurse Officer, U. S. Public Health Service
Spring 2022
, Ph.D ’06
Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nurse Executive, Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Fall 2022
Dean, Connell School of Nursing, Boston College
Spring 2021
, Ph.D. ’05
Dean, Connell School of Nursing, Boston College
Fall 2021
Dean, School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University
Fall 2020
Gennaro Rocco
Director, Steering Committee, Scientific Research Center Centro di Eccellenza per la Cultura e la Ricerca Infermieristica
Alessandro Stievano
Research Fellow in Nursing, Centre of Excellence for Nursing Scholarship OPI, Rome
Fall 2019
Susan Orsega
Chief Nurse Officer, United States Public Health Service
Spring 2018
President, National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties
Executive Associate Dean, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing
Fall 2018
Director, National Library of Medicine
Spring 2017
Chief Executive Officer, American Nurses Association Enterprise
Fall 2017
Perinatal Clinical Nurse Specialist
Editor in Chief, MCN: The American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing
Spring 2016
Vice President for Health and Health Equity and
Professor, College of Nursing and Health Professions, Drexel University
Fall 2016
Antonia M. Villarruel
Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
Spring 2015
Annie W. Goodrich Professor, Yale School of Nursing
Fall 2015
Dean and Professor, UCLA School of Nursing
Assistant Director, UCLA Health System
Executive Director, UCLA Health System Patient Safety Institute
Spring 2014
Chief Operating Officer, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center
Fall 2014
Best-selling author, CBS This Morning show contributor
Co-founder, Bob Woodruff Foundation
Spring 2013
’72, M.S. ’77
Senior Vice President and System Chief Nursing Officer, MedStar Health
Fall 2013
, M.S. ’04, Ph.D. ’10
President, American Nurses Association
Spring 2012
Distinguished Professor and University Dean Emerita, Indiana University School of Nursing
Fall 2012
Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Spring 2011
President of the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International
Fall 2011
, M.S. ’77, Ph.D. ’83Â
Dean, New York University College of Nursing
Fall 2010