Deborah Rugs, PhD
Research Health Science Specialist
Dr. Rugs is a Research Health Science Specialist for the VA at CINDRR in Tampa. She is also an Associate in Research at the College of Behavioral Health and Community Science, University of South Florida and an Adjunct Professor of Psychology for St. Leo University. She has worked at the VA for nine years as a co-investigator and Senior Project Manager for numerous VA studies and QI projects. Dr. Rugs is a social organizational research psychologist and her primary interest is in program implementation, program evaluation, and dissemination of evidence-based practices. Specifically, she is interested in the effect of social influence, via peer leaders, mentoring, social networking and other methods on the uptake of evidence-based programs.
