Burgess is an internationally recognized pioneer in the assessment and treatment of victims of trauma and abuse. She, along with BC sociologist Lynda Lytle Holmstrom, co-founded 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. Burgess and co-author Steven Constantine published the book A Killer by Design: Murderers, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind, which served as the inspiration for “Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer,” a 2024 Hulu docuseries about Burgess.
Her work continues today in the study of elder abuse in nursing homes, cyberstalking, and Internet sex crimes. 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. She was designated a “Living Legend” by the American Academy of Nursing and is the namesake and inaugural recipient of the Ann Burgess Forensic Nursing Award from the International Association of Forensic Nurses.
A board-certified advanced practice psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, Petreca is director of the Connell School-based Center for Police Training in Crisis Prevention. His research focuses on forensic psychiatry and mental health, examining issues related to victimology, sexual trauma, sexual offending, and violent behavior. With funding from the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, he studies jail diversion programs, working closely with law enforcement and forensic clinicians to assess and optimize behavioral crisis responses.
In his clinical work, he has conducted psychiatric evaluations and managed the mental health care of individuals in several correctional facilities. He also does psychiatric evaluations and psychopharmacological management for individuals who are under supervision of the Federal Bureau of Prisons as they reintegrate into society.
As an FBI special agent, Wood conducted complex criminal investigations targeting violent street gangs. An expert in interviewing and interrogations, violent crime investigations, and the creation of multi-agency investigative task forces, he provided expert witness testimony in federal and state courts. A United States Army veteran, Wood spent two years in the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, protecting U.S. and foreign dignitaries. He also served as assistant regional security officer in the U.S. Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He now is a program manager for Protection Strategies Incorporated.
To register for the event, or learn more about the lecture series, go to bc.edu/pinnacle.