Biography

Ann R. Knebel, Ph.D., RN, is the deputy scientific director in NCATS’ Division of Preclinical Innovation. Prior to joining NCATS in December 2016, she had developed significant leadership, administrative and clinical scientific expertise during her tenure in various positions at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Knebel has served as a clinical nurse specialist in the NIH Clinical Center’s Nursing Department. She also worked as an analyst in the Office of Science Policy and as an extramural research program director at the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR).

As a U.S. Public Health Service Officer, Knebel volunteered for a temporary assignment to staff the first aid stations at the World Trade Center disaster site in New York City following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Subsequently, she was transferred to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness (now known as the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR)) within the Office of the Secretary of HHS, where she held positions of increasing leadership responsibility ending her tenure there as the Deputy Director for Preparedness Planning. In 2012, following 20 years of service, Knebel retired from the U.S. Public Health Service at the rank of Rear Admiral (lower half) and returned to NIH as the deputy director of NINR, where she provided scientific and programmatic expertise to guide nursing science in support of the Institute’s mission.

Knebel received her doctorate in physiological nursing from the University of California, San Francisco.

Research Interests

Knebel’s research interests are focused on symptom management, quality of life and functional performance in people with genetic lung diseases such as alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency; palliative care and quality of life at the end of life; and ethical decision making for the allocation of scarce public health and medical resources in disasters.