Recent Achievements by Rush Women

Awards & Honors

College of Nursing Faculty Named American Academy of Nursing Fellows

Angela Moss, PhD, MSN, APRN-BC, RN, and Monique Reed, PhD, MSN, RN, were honored with this career milestone based on their significant contributions to advance public health and promote health equity. They are among only five distinguished nurse leaders from Illinois and only 225 from across the United States who were recognized for their achievements. Read more

Seven Nurses at Rush Named Emerging Nurse Leaders

The Illinois Nurses Foundation recently chose seven nurses and nursing faculty members at Rush University Medical Center as recipients of the organization’s annual 40 Under 40 Emerging Nurse Leader Award. The award highlights and celebrates young nurse leaders who are making an impact on health care and the nursing profession today and who will shape the future of the profession. Read more

Urmeka Jefferson Joins Nurse Leader Fellowship at UC Davis

Urmeka T. Jefferson, PhD, RN, associate professor at Rush University College of Nursing, is one of 10 nurse scientists accepted to the second cohort of the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators. This fellowship program, funded by a $37.5 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, recognizes early- to mid-career nursing scholars and innovators with a high potential to accelerate leadership in nursing research, practice, education, policy and entrepreneurship. Learn more

Transforming Nursing Practice Through Community-Based Research

Monique Reed, PhD, MS, RN, assistant dean for generalist education and associate professor in the College of Nursing, is working to disrupt hierarchies between health care providers and community members. In 2020 Reed was appointed the vice president of the American Nurses Association of Illinois, where her team collaborates to improve diversity, equity and inclusion within the organization and health care facilities alike. Read more

In the Press

Oncology Nurse Champion: Amelia Mercer

Amelia Mercer, BSN, RN, CBCN, OCN, talked to Oncology Nursing News about the importance of time management, teamwork and patient support in her role as nurse navigator for the breast team at Rush University Cancer Center. Read more

Beth R. Van Opstal, MD, appearing on WGN News

Addressing Back-to-School COVID Concerns

Beth R. Van Opstal, MD, joined WGN News to discuss concerns involving COVID-19 and returning to schools this fall. Van Opstal talked about the COVID-19 variants; when the vaccine may be available to children under 12; and vaccine mandates. Watch the segment

Physician Stresses Need to Address Structural Racism In Medicine

Suzi Lopez, MD, shares how structural racism affected her even at the time of her birth and continues to linger in patient experiences in health care institutions everywhere in an opinion piece published on KevinMD. She calls for health organizations to address how racism has become part of medicine’s structure to ensure that it becomes actively anti-racist. Read more

Breastfeeding Diet: The Healthiest Habits and Nutrition For Nursing Mothers

Paula Meier, PhD, RN, FAAN, director for clinical research and lactation in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Rush University Medical Center and president of the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation, talked to Parents magazine about the dos and don’ts of breastfeeding when it comes to eating spicy foods. Read more

Mental Health Issues Urgent in Youth Athletes

Elizabeth Pieroth, PsyD, ABBP, associate professor in the College of Health Sciences, has worked with professional athletes as a neuropsychologist for more than 20 years and seen firsthand the stresses they endure. While professional athletes tend to have more accessibility to mental health resources, Pieroth advocates for youth athletes who deserve more focus and resources available for their mental well-being in an article for Psychology Today. Read more

‘Long-Haul’ Covid Patients Have a Reason to Be Optimistic

Monnie Wasse, MD, director of the post-Covid clinic at Rush University Medical Center, talked to Men’s Health about Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), also known as long COVID. “Even though these symptoms alone aren’t life-threatening, they feel like a major change to the people experiencing them,” Wasse explained. Read more

Doctors Shine Light on Parkinson’s Plus Syndrome

A brain disorder called Parkinson’s plus syndrome, also known as atypical Parkinson’s, is highlighted in a Scripps news segment. Jori Fleisher, MD, MSCE, explained to Scripps in a video interview that Parkinson’s plus syndrome is often misdiagnosed. “It’s called a Parkinson’s plus syndrome or an atypical Parkinson’s, and that’s because a lot of times people can present with symptoms that look like Parkinson’s disease,” she says. “So, slowness, stiffness, occasionally a tremor.” Watch the segment

Research & Publications

LGBTQ Older Adults in Long-Term Care Settings: An Integrative Review to Inform Best Practices

Katherine Fasullo, SBN, RN manager for physical medicine and rehabilitation, recently published an integrative literature review in Clinical Gerontologist to inform practice, research, and policy. Read more

COVID-19 Hospitalization and Mortality: Sex Differences

Medical Xpress spotlit a study published in the Journal of Women’s Health that found male patients with COVID-19 had significantly higher rates of hospitalization and of transfer to the intensive care unit, and that a higher percentage of male patients died of COVID-19 than female patients. Joanne Michelle Gomez, MD, studied the first 8,108 positive COVID-19 patients that presented to Rush University System for Health from March 1 to June 21, 2020. Nineteen percent of males required hospitalization, compared to 13 percent of females. Read more

Creating Wellness in a Pandemic: A Practical Framework for Health Systems Responding to Covid-19

Kathryn Perticone, APN, MSW and Sheila M. Dowd, PhD coauthored a commentary in NEJM Catalyst detailing how Rush created and deployed a simple, easy-to-follow interdisciplinary framework to promote staff well-being during COVID-19. Read more

Around Rush

Patricia Steeves O’Neil Named Rush Chief Financial Officer

Patricia Steeves O’Neil, MAE, was appointed senior vice president and chief financial officer of Rush University System for Health and Rush University Medical Center effective May 3, 2021. In this role she will provide strategic vision and management for the operational and fiscal direction of Rush University Medical Center and the Rush system. The appointment is the well-deserved culmination of her more than 20 years at Rush, where she has been acting SVP and CFO since May 2020.

O’Neil is also an assistant professor in the Rush University College of Health Sciences, where she teaches in the nationally ranked Master’s in Health Systems Management Program. She received Outstanding Faculty awards in 2004, 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2016.

News Archive

Sheila Dugan, MD, Recipient of PASSOR Legacy Award and Lectureship

Sheila Dugan, MD, professor and acting Chair of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, is the recipient of the 2019 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation PASSOR Legacy Award and Lectureship for the mid to late-career physiatrist who has distinguished himself/herself in the field of musculoskeletal physiatry and has attained excellence in three of the four areas: clinical care, national education, national service or scholarship. She will be lecturing and receiving the award at the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Annual Meeting in San Antonio on November 16, 2019.

Learn More

Susan Buchholz, PhD, RN, and Sarah Livesay, DNP, APRN, Named Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing

Rush College of Nursing faculty members Susan Buchholz, PhD, RN, and Sarah Livesay, DNP, APRN, were named Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing. Buchholz and Livesay were honored at an induction ceremony on October 26, 2019.

Learn More

Lisa Ravindra, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, wrote an op-ed piece for Ms. Magazine on the factors contributing to female physicians reducing work hours to part-time or considering part-time work.
Laura VanPuymbrouck, PhD, assistant professor in the College of Health Sciences, wrote an article for US News about the lack of accessible equipment in health care facilities for people with disabilities.
Jeannie Aschkenasy, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics, wrote an article for The Hill on detecting children’s learning disabilities earlier in their education.