Loureen DownesLoureen Downes, Ph.D., APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP, is an Associate Professor and the founding Program Director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program at Florida Gulf Coast University. Dr. Downes is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner with a passin for lifestyle behaviors' and chronic disease prevention. She is also certified in Lifestyle Medicine by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and is a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. She has led the curriculum development of a Doctor of Nursing Practice Program. She has been a nursing practitioner for over 25 years, and has been a nurse practitioner educator for 14 years. Dr. Downes teaches primary care and advanced health promotion courses. Her research interest focuses on the prevention and management of chronic diseases with an emphasis on nutrition and physical activity. She developed an instrument Motivators and Barriers of Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors' Scale, used nationally and internationally. She is the author of several peer-reviewed articles and has presented regionally, nationally, and internationally at professional conferences on topics related to lifestyle behaviors. Read More Read Less