University of Florida College of Nursing Associate Professor Ann Horgas, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., was recently named the chair of the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing Science, effective April 3.
Horgas came to UF in 2000 and has been a strong leader in the college since that time. Horgas is an internationally known expert on pain management in the elderly and has received continuous funding to support this line of research since 1993.
An award-winning mentor, Horgas has directed 12 Ph.D. dissertation committees (member of 14 others), served on D.N.P. project committees, and supervised over 30 undergraduate honors student projects. She teaches courses in the Ph.D. and D.N.P. programs, and receives excellent evaluations from her students.
“In her teaching, research and service, Ann has never failed to demonstrate her commitment to our college,” Dean Anna McDaniel, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N. remarked. “I look forward to having Ann join the administrative team in the role of department chair.”
Last April, Horgas received a $249,436 Ed and Ethel Moore Alzheimer’s Disease Research Program grant from the Florida Department of Health. The grant funds research studying whether a prescribed medication treatment can effectively reduce pain and behavior disruptions in nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s disease.
Along with four interdisciplinary faculty members from across the UF academic health center, Horgas and her colleagues were awarded almost $850,000 to better understand the cause of Alzheimer’s disease, how to innovatively help those with it and how to integrate those communities into medical studies.
She has additionally been funded by NIA to study cognitive interventions for older adults (ACTIVE Trial) and by NINR to investigate pain in nursing home residents with dementia.
Horgas is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the Gerontological Society of America. She is a member of the American Pain Society, Sigma Theta Tau International, Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing Association, and the Southern Nursing Research Society. She chairs and serves on many committees in the CON, UF and national organizations.
She received her bachelor’s degree in Nursing, master’s degree in Adult Health Nursing and Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Pennsylvania State University. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Gerontology and Geriatrics at the Free University of Berlin.