The Beat M. and Jill L. Kahli Endowed Professor in Oncology Nursing and an oncology nurse with more than two decades of experience, Victoria Loerzel, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, focuses her research on improving symptom management and quality of life for older adults with cancer. She was the first nurse researcher to identify misperceptions of older adults related to common evidence-based strategies as being ineffective for self-managing symptoms at home. After receiving funding from the National Institutes of Health, she developed and tested an innovative avatar-based simulation to improve quality of life for older cancer patients by visualizing the consequences of self-care decisions after chemotherapy. The study serves as a model of serious gaming for older adults and using technology in patient education. Loerzel also coordinates the college’s Undergraduate Honors Thesis program, serves as a nurse scientist at Orlando Health, and leverages her expertise in gerontology nursing as a member of UCF’s Disability, Aging and Technology Faculty Research Cluster.
