Nancy Downing

About Nancy Downing

Nancy R. Downing, PhD, RN, SANE-A, CP-SANE, is an associate professor in the Forensic Nursing Program at the Texas A&M School of Nursing. Dr. Downing received her Bachelor of Science in nursing, Master of Science in nursing and Doctor of Philosophy in nursing from the University of Iowa with an emphasis on clinical genetics and forensic nursing. She completed a T32 postdoctoral fellowship in clinical genomics at the University of Iowa.

Dr. Downing conducts research on forensic health care, including being a co-investigator on a National Institute of Justice study on use of alternate light sources and bruise visibility, project evaluator on a $1.5 million Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant to expand sexual assault nurses examiners in Texas, co-principal investigator on a HRSA sub grant examining nationwide trends in intimate partner violence, principal investigator on a Texas A&M T3 study on effects of emergency contraception on fear learning and a Texas A&M-funded pilot study examining biomarkers of PTSD after sexual assault. She has given numerous local, state, national and international presentations related to forensic health, teaches in the Forensic Health Care Program at the School of Nursing and has served as an expert witness in criminal cases.

Dr. Downing currently practices as a forensic nurse at Baylor, Scott and White Hospital in College Station and Temple, providing care to patients across the lifespan who are impacted by violence. She has been a certified sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE-A) since 2004. She was appointed by Governor Abbott on November 30, 2016, to serve on the Texas Forensic Science Commission through September 2020. The purpose of the Forensic Science Commission is to protect the integrity of forensic science in Texas. She is actively involved in the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN) and was recently elected to the IAFN Board of Directors as a director-at-large serving a two-year term from 2018 through 2020. She is a former founder and president of IAFN Iowa and former chair of the IAFN Title IX and Campus Sexual Assault Committee. She currently serves on the IAFN Title IX and Campus Sexual Assault and Research Committees.