Rate My Professor Ann Gallagher

Professor Ann Gallagher serves as Professor and Head of the Department of Health Sciences within the College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences at Brunel University London. A registered nurse, she qualified as a general/adult nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast during ‘The Troubles’ and achieved registration as a mental health nurse at West Park Hospital in Epsom, subsequently managing a regional adolescent day unit. Gallagher's career includes co-leading an award-winning practice-based learning nursing course at the Open University and co-producing the Massive Open Online Course ‘Ethical Decision-Making in Care’. She previously held senior leadership roles at the University of Surrey, chairing the Research Ethics Committee, Animal Welfare and Ethics Committee, and Clinical Ethics Committees. As Visiting Professor at the University of Genoa, Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Nursing Ethics (2025 impact factor 2.7), Fellow of the Hastings Center, and expert Code advisor to the International Council of Nurses, Gallagher demonstrates extensive influence in her field. She co-organises annual international nursing ethics conferences and served on the Nuffield Council on Bioethics working group for the ‘Future of Ageing’ inquiry.

Gallagher is recognised nationally and internationally as a leader in ethics and care, with research specialisations in ethical decision-making, professionalism in health and social care, interprofessional education, dignity in social care, compassion in the NHS, and artificial intelligence applications in health professions regulation and fitness to practise processes. She has authored over 190 publications, including nine books such as Slow Ethics and the Art of Care (Emerald, 2020), Nursing Practice and Education (Routledge, 2023), Interprofessional Ethics Across the Lifespan in Health and Social Care (Routledge, 2026), Ethics and Nursing Practice, 2nd Edition (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), and Ethics in Professional Life (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009). Key papers include ‘Artificial Intelligence in Health Professions Regulation’ (Journal of Nursing Regulation, 2023), ‘The Challenges Experienced by ICU Nurses in Kuwait during the COVID-19 Pandemic’ (International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances, 2024), and ‘Views of Generation Z regarding care and care careers’ (International Journal of Care and Caring, 2021). Gallagher has generated over £1 million in research funding, supervised PhD students to completion using diverse methodologies, and fostered collaborations with regulators and international scholars. Her honours include the Fellowship of the Royal College of Nursing (2018), Fulbright Scholarship (2018) for collaboration at Tuskegee University, and Hastings Center Fellowship (2021).