Ann Wolbert Burgess, D.N.Sc., APRN, FAAN, is an internationally recognized pioneer in the assessment and treatment of victims of trauma and abuse, and author of several books, including Expert Witness: The Weight of Our Testimony When Justice Hangs in the Balance and A Killer by Design: Murderers, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind. 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. Her courtroom testimony has been described as “groundbreaking,” and she has been called a “nursing pathfinder.”

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.

Selected Publications

Burgess, A. W., Petreca, V., Brucato, G., Hoblock, C., Mars, M., Lamade, R. V., & Dowdell, E. B. (2024). Murdered Elder Indigenous Women and Legal Outcomes. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Advance online publication. DOI: 10.1177/08862605241280084

Capotosto, M. P., Soria-Contreras, D. C., Burgess, A. W., Rifas-Shiman, S. L., Fitz, V. W., Shifren, J., Chavarro, J. E., & Oken, E. (2024). Associations of History of Infertility with Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression among Parous Women during Midlife in Project Viva. Women’s Health Reports, 5(1), 936–944. DOI: 10.1089/whr.2024.0034

Petreca, V. G., Dowdell, E., Harding, S., Mars, M., Pudvah, E., Jeune, J., & Burgess, A. W. (2024). Murdered Indigenous Women: A Comparison Study of Victim and Perpetrator Patterns and Characteristics. Journal of Forensic Nursing, 20(3), 174–184. DOI: 10.1097/JFN.0000000000000481

Petreca, V. G., Burgess, A. A., Barros, J. T., Wise, J., & Burgess, A. W. (2024). Analyzing Violent Attacker Texts: Examining Ideologies through Machine Learning-Assisted Topic Modeling. Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression, 1–18. DOI: 10.1080/19434472.2024.2415359

Petreca, V. G., & Burgess, A. W. (2024). Long-Term Psychological and Physiological Effects of Male Sexual Trauma. The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 52(1), 23–32. DOI: 10.29158/jaapl.230076-23

Welner, M., Burgess, A., & O’Malley, K. Y. (2024). Fetal Abduction by Maternal Evisceration (FAMAE). In K. A. Burgason & M. DeLisi (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Homicide Studies (pp. 296–320). Routledge. DOI: 0.4324/9781003399476-16 

Petreca, V. G., Flanagan, J. M., Lyons, K. S., & Burgess, A. W. (2024). The Reintegration of Men into Society after a Sexual Offense: An Hermeneutic Phenomenology Study. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 45(5), 453 467. DOI: 10.1080/01612840.2024.2322008

Petreca, V. G., Burgess, A. A., Wise, J., & Burgess, A. W. (2024). Using Machine Learning and Topic Modeling to Examine Manifestos of Violent Attackers. The Journal of Threat Assessment and Management. Advance online publication. DOI: 10.1037/tam0000232

Petreca, V. G., Burgess, A. W., & Jarvis, K. (2023). Manual and Instrument Asphyxiation/Strangulation: Examining Perpetrator and Victim Characteristics. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 98, 102575. DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2023.102575

Petreca, V. G., Barros, J., Hoblock, C., & Burgess, A. W. (2024). The Nurse Police Assistance Crisis Team (N-PACT): A New Role for Nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing. Advance online publication. DOI: 10.1111/jan.16056

Petreca, V. G., & Burgess, A. W. (2024). Long-Term Psychological and Physiological Effects of Male Sexual Trauma. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 52(1), 1–10. DOI: 10.29158/JAAPL.230076-23

Phillips, K. L., Dzurec, L., Burgess, A. W., Beauvais, A., & McNutt-Clarke, B. (2022). Ramifications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Nursing Students’ Transition to Practice. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 10, 1097. DOI: 10.1097/NND.0000000000000904

Petreca, V. G., Brucato, G., Burgess, A. W., Flores, J., & Leary, T. (2022). Female Murderers Who Mutilate or Dismember Their Victims: An Exploration of Patterns and Sex Differences. Journal of Forensic Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.15136

Burgess, A. W., & Constantine, S. M. (2021). A Killer by Design: Murderers, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind. Hachette Books

Welner, M., Burgess, A. W., & O’Malley, K. Y. Psychiatric and Legal Considerations in Cases of Fetal Abduction by Maternal Evisceration. Journal of Forensic Science, 66(5), 1805–1817. DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.14788

Moylan, G., Burgess, A. W.,  Berstein, M. & Figley, C. (in press). Motivating game-based learning efforts in higher education. International Journal of Distance Education Technologies.

Carretta, C., Burgess, A. W., & DeMarco, R. (2016). To tell or not to tell. Violence Against Women, 22(13), 1499-1518. DOI: 10.1177/1077801215627507