Meet the Team

Role: Assistant Dean

As assistant dean of Faculty Practice, Angela Moss, PhD, MSN, APN-BC, RN, is responsible for the leadership, development and maintenance of diverse faculty practice partnerships and for fiscal accountability for the operations of all faculty practice venues. She also coordinates clinical outcome analysis and student activities across all faculty practice venues, and supports scholarly activities of all faculty practice personnel.

She is a board-certified, practicing adult nurse practitioner. Her research interests include return on investment, cost analysis and patient satisfaction at nurse-managed health centers, and the impact of aging on perceptions of health and health care utilization. Moss is also interested in strategic development of new nurse-managed models of care delivery for underserved populations.

Moss’ primary teaching responsibilities are in the Doctor of Nursing Practice programs, with a focus on health assessment clinical skills and student advisement.

Site(s): St. Leonard’s Ministries

Role: Faculty Clinician Liaison

Rousseau has been a women’s health nurse for over 30 years. She has worked as a staff nurse and Clinical Nurse Specialist, as the Coordinator of Practice for the professional nursing organization AWHONN in Washington, DC, as an inpatient Women’s Health NP at RUSH University Medical Center, and as an NP with a focus on breast and cervical cancer screening.

Her DNP work led to universal screening for depression in the immediate postpartum period at RUSH. Her interest in this area continues as she works to improve follow-up with outpatient mental health care for women identified as being at risk for depression.

Rousseau is a certified nurse educator who has taught at RUSH University College of Nursing since 2001 across both the pre-licensure and DNP programs. In the Department of Academic Practice Nursing, Rousseau finds partner sites for student projects and work-study opportunities and is the Program Director for Family Connects, a universal postpartum nurse home visit service. She was recently awarded with the RUSH University Excellence in Community Service award for her efforts to raise awareness of state Safe Haven Laws to reduce illegal and unsafe infant abandonment. She is a board member of the National Safe Haven Alliance and a past-President of Sigma’s Gamma Phi chapter at RUSH.

Role: Senior Manager

Annika Gorenz is the senior manager for the RUSH University College of Nursing’s Department of Academic Practice Nursing (DAPN). Her principal role is to oversee the business and administrative functions of the enterprise’s 30 nurse-run clinics and community partnerships, ensuring financial sustainability, business development, and day-to-day operational efficiency. Annika is also accountable for the DAPN’s data outcomes, which involves coordinating data between clinicians, students, clinical site partners and various internal and external RUSH departments. Optimization of site-specific outcome data allows us to demonstrate the impact of our department on the College of Nursing faculty, students, and clinical site partners.

Annika has a background in business administration and research related to clinical healthcare, graduate nursing education and academic practice partnerships. She has a master’s degree from RUSH University Medical Center in both biotechnology and pharmacology.

Role: Administrative Manager

Muhammad has served as higher education professional for graduate nursing and naturopathic doctoral programs, highlighting clinical placements and student clinic operations, and in medical education. She has an MBA from Saint Xavier University with a concentration in management.

Agruss is a longtime faculty member at the RUSH University College of Nursing. She has been instrumental in the development of the Family Nurse Practitioner program, which is currently ranked No. 6 in the country by U.S. News & World Report. She is also an active family nurse practitioner.

Site: Yorktown Health

Site: Sue Gin Health Center at Oakley Square

Margaret Perlia Bavis, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC is an embedded faculty at CommunityHealth, a free and charitable clinic in Chicago. In her role, Dr. Bavis provides comprehensive primary care to uninsured adults. In addition, Bavis trains RUSH University College of Nursing APRN students. Bavis is able to bring her experience caring for patients and training students back to the College of Nursing where she teaches in the DNP/FNP program.

Site: CommunityHealth

Brockland is excited to be working at North Side Housing and Supportive Services (NSHSS), a housing program that has a 72-bed men’s emergency shelter in Uptown as well as over 170 permanent supportive housing units throughout Chicago for formerly homeless adults. She works with over 100 clients a year, providing ongoing in-home health education and medical case management for clients who are housed, in addition to consulting on the health needs of clients who are currently experiencing homelessness. Since working at NSHSS since 2016, she has developed programming to educate clients and case managers on opioid overdose response and has developed policies and educational materials to support staff members on infection prevention and mental and physical health emergency response. Within the first year of having an onsite nurse, the rate of clients connected to primary care improved by 24%. Health programming at NSHSS is anchored in the principles of harm-reduction and trauma-informed care.

Site: North Side Housing and Supportive Services

Davis works with the Family Connects Chicago at RUSH team, caring for new moms and babies born at RUSH.

Site: Family Connects Chicago at RUSH

Hepburn comes to us with a background in pediatric primary care nursing. She is a graduate of RUSH University and enjoys baking bread and reading.

Site: Family Connects Chicago at RUSH

Hernandez comes to us with a background in community health nursing. She is a graduate of North Park University with a Bachelor in Education and later went on to complete her Bachelor in Nursing at Loyola University Chicago. Hernandez is passionate about public health, particularly working diverse communities. She currently works as the school nurse for Saint Ignatius College Prep, where is able to mend both her passions for education and nursing. In her spare time, Hernandez enjoys weight training and spending time with her small but energetic dachshund, Houdini. 

Site: Family Connects

Horrigan comes to us with a background in Neurology nursing, and is a graduate of Boston College. She once walked 200 miles through Spain on El Camino De Santiago and has a passion for the great outdoors.

Site: RUSH University, Office of Student Health Services

Site: Bobby E. Wright

Kaintz started her career in community health and service with AmeriCorps: National Health Corps. She completed her BA in Anthropology and Public Health at Tulane University in New Orleans, and she recently completed an ABSN at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. When Kaintz is not working at her faculty practice site, she enjoys reading science fiction and doing embroidery.

Site: Family Connects Chicago at RUSH

Knoll is currently working as an admission nurse at RUSH Oak Park Hospital. She is a graduate of the RUSH University College of Nursing and is interested in community and public health nursing.

Site: Laurance Armour Day School

I am a nurse practitioner at Flying Food Group where I see patients for episodic and chronic conditions at a work site health clinic. Our services, and primary care lab tests, are free to employees. Strep, COVID, UTI, pregnancy, and instant drug testing can be done onsite. We can order screening and diagnostic testing to be performed at RUSH or other health care organizations in the area near O’Hare Airport. We complete pre-employment and random drug screening for Flying Food Group, hold yearly health fairs and flu shot vaccination days, support student projects, and engage in activities that support wellness at work.

At St. Leonard’s Ministries I serve men and women with a history of incarceration and/or substance use disorders. I work with St. Leonard’s staff, Adler school of psychology, and RUSH students to support the needs of this population. We aid in navigation of Medicaid benefits and plans and coordinate care for routine screenings, vision, dental, and specialty services. I also serve as a primary care provider while patients await utilization of Medicaid benefits and treat episodic complaints. We provide education to staff and residents through trainings sessions that include heart saver CPR and opioid reversal. I serve as source of guidance for several locations of St. Leonard’s Ministries as the organization strives to keep residents healthy and safe while providing education and future housing opportunities.

Sites: St. Leonard’s Ministries; Flying Food

Manheimer is currently enrolled in the DNP Population Health Program at RUSH with a focus on Healthcare for Persons Experiencing Homelessness. When not at work or school, she can be found having fun with her husband and two young boys.

Site: St. Leonard’s Ministries 

Martinez comes to us with a background in child care, volunteer work and community engagement. She graduated from the Chamberlain College of Nursing after earning a bachelor’s in biology from Loyola University Chicago and has been a community health nurse for the past two years. Martinez also provided public health awareness to the Chicago Lighthouse, which is a social service organization that serves the visually impaired. She enjoys being a community advocate.

Site: CommunityHealth 

Miller comes to us with a background in psychiatric nursing. She graduated from RUSH College of Nursing with a masters and is a Clinical Nurse Leader. Miller’s interests include gardening, comic books, spending time with her husband and five pets, and weightlifting.

Site: St. Leonard’s Ministries

Romano am new to Rush with a Pediatric Cardiac ICU background. Her approach to caring for patients as always been holistic and culturally aware. This new connection between Rush and Cristo Rey will facilitate the idea of health promotion in a space of education and provide greater healthcare access to students of primarily Hispanic backgrounds. She is grateful to be the nurse to foster the pathway to a healthy future for the students.

Site: Cristo Rey 

Slager received her master’s in nursing at RUSH University. She has experience as a nurse instructor at RUSH University and also provides primary care at various clinics.

Site(s): Flying Food

Sykes received her master’s in the Family Nurse Practitioner Program from the University of Illinois in Chicago. She has experience in primary care and the emergency department and has a background in health promotion, disease prevention, health education, care management and evidence-based practices.

Site(s): Heartland Alliance Health

Tribbia completed her BS in Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and earned both her MSN and DNP (Advanced Public Health Nursing) at RUSH University’s College of Nursing. She started her nursing career in pediatrics and has spent most of her career as a public health nurse across a variety of settings. Tribbia has experience in evidenced-based strategies and program development, nursing education, policy development, community partnerships, and nursing scholarship. In her free time, Tribbia enjoys trying out a new recipe, a good cup of coffee, and spending time outdoors with her family.

Site: RUSH University, Office of Student Health Services

Wasserman comes to us with a background in mental health and pediatric nursing.  She is a graduate of RUSH University, and enjoys staying active with her puppy Poppy.

Site: Thresholds