Meet the Program Staff, Mentors and Fellows
Fellowship Staff
Colleen Hogan, OTD, OTR/L, Fellowship Coordinator
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Hogan started her career in acute care at a level I trauma center in Boston, mainly practicing in general medicine. She came to Northwestern Memorial Hospital to continue her focus on medicine patients. Her interests and expertise includes implementing a delirium prevention protocol for patients at risk of developing delirium and implementing intradialytic exercise, providing therapy services to patients while they undergo dialysis. Hogan additionally has a passion for ethics and sits on the Medical Ethics Committee.
Hogan supports professional development and education for the Rehabilitation Department as education coordinator. Hogan has a special interest in developing mentors’ skills and is working to develop a mentor program within the OT department. As fellowship co-coordinator, she has helped create the fellowship program, and she is excited to further the OT profession through enriching the fellowship curriculum and promoting evidence-based practice in acute care.
Meghan Morrow, OTR/L, Fellowship Coordinator
Morrow started her career in research in the robotics lab at RIC working to develop high-tech, low-cost devices for people who sustained a stroke or traumatic brain injury. She worked at a level 1 trauma hospital in Colorado to pursue education in critical care, program development and quality improvement. While there, Morrow helped develop evidence-based protocols for people who sustained SAH, experienced ICU-induced delirium and TBI recovery with a focus on minimally conscious pathways for patients off sedation.
Morrow returned to Chicago as a project manager for the Arm and Hand Lab at ShirleyRyan where she pursued her passion for exploring intermittent hypoxia for upper extremity recovery and high-intensity stimulation for people with incomplete spinal cord injury. She is now back in acute care focusing on developing new pathways to streamline the operations of Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s OT team.
She plans to cultivate a culture of evidence-based treatment interventions in acute care and optimize the approach to patient care from a preventive lens
Christopher Rudenga, OTR/L, Fellowship Director
Rudenga began his healthcare career at a level 2 trauma center as an exercise physiologist at Community Hospital. After earning his master’s degree, he began working as an OT at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in 2019. He transitioned to the role of resource coordinator in 2022 and participated in Improvement Leader Training and LEAD projects to improve the timeliness of responses to OT consultations. He also worked with interdisciplinary team members and his OT team to help establish OT’s role in ED.
In 2023, Rudenga was appointed as the inaugural OT manager at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and oversees the:
- OT Department
- Hanger Orthotics and Prosthetics
- Speech-Language Pathology Department
He was key to developing the OT Fellowship Program and serves as fellowship director.
Fellowship Mentors
Alyssa Winter, OTR/L, Surgery Mentor
Winter has worked at Northwestern Memorial Hospital since 2018, having initially started as a student completing her fieldwork. She has spent over five years as a part of the surgical service line, developing expertise in post-surgical rehab.
Winter has led many process improvement projects, one of which won at a Northwestern Medicine Improvement Day. One of her research projects was published in the Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Health. Her leadership roles within the department have included:
Andrea Vissing, OTR/L, CLT, Oncology Mentor
Vissing started her OT career in the home health and outpatient setting at an independent senior living center. She transitioned to the acute care setting at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and developed her skills mainly with post-cardiothoracic surgical and general cardiology patients. She was part of the team that began mobilizing patients in the ICU on ECMO support at Northwestern Medicine.
Vissing transitioned to the oncology units in the acute care setting and earned her lymphedema certification in 2021. She is working on developing a lymphedema program to improve inpatient care for people with cancer and bridge the gap between acute care and outpatient services.
Becca Schroeder, MOT, OTR/L, General Medicine Mentor
Schroeder began her career at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in 2018. Since then, she has been a primary therapist on the Medicine, Pulmonary, and Medical Intensive Care units. Schroeder has been involved in several projects and committees, including a committee that worked to reduce hospital readmissions and a project to increase mobility in the MICU.
Schroeder earned a certificate from Boston University for interprofessional leadership in health care. She provides consultative services for people with ALS and muscular dystrophy, and she has since given multiple presentations on occupational therapy’s role in care for people with neuromuscular conditions.
Schroeder has several years of experience supervising level II fieldwork, and she is excited to continue mentoring through the fellowship program.
Jessica Lanis, MSOT, OTR/L, CSRS, Neurology Mentor
Lanis began her career at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Neurology. She has a strong interest in stroke rehabilitation and is certified as a stroke rehabilitation specialist. Jessica contributed to a clinical trial by providing upper extremity assessments to people who had strokes, evaluating the effects of a myoelectric-computer interface on arm function.
Lanis is leading a project to implement an evidence-based upper extremity protocol to improve functional outcomes after an acute stroke.
She promoted the OT fellowship program at the 2024 AOTA Inspire conference and is excited about her role as a mentor.
Kari Brouwer, OTR/L, General Medicine Mentor
Brouwer started at Northwestern Memorial Hospital as a float therapist on all service lines. She transitioned to specializing in general medicine, pulmonary and critically ill patients.
In addition, Brouwer:
- Planned and led a service trip to Haiti, educating clinicians on evidence-based interventions for various diagnoses
- Helped develop an educational handbook for patients and families in the ICU
- Helped develop a continuing education course on treating patients with COVID-19 in the acute setting
- Developed protocols for nursing mobility in the ICU
- Established a competency for rehab clinicians working with patients on ECMO
- Leads an outpatient class for patients with Parkinson’s to promote strength, balance and more independence with everyday activities
- Works with patients with neuromuscular conditions and their families to promote independence and ease the burden of these diseases
Brouwer has experience taking several level II fieldwork students, and she is excited to be a part of the fellowship program and share her passion of treating patients in the acute care setting.
Laura Rodriguez, OTD, OTR/L, Emergency Department Mentor
Rodriguez began her career at Rush University Medical Central, then joined Northwestern Memorial Hospital in 2021. She is highly skilled in evaluating and treating patients in all care units, including ICUs. Rodriguez has been involved in performance improvement projects to optimize occupational therapists’ response to referral and patient prioritization processes.
Most recently, she helped develop OT’s presence in the Emergency Department to reduce hospital admissions and increase access to care. She is the chair of the department’s Operations Committee to improve efficiency and scheduling processes.
Rodriguez aims to further the OT profession as a mentor for the OT fellowship program, presenting at AOTA 2025 conference and advocating for OTs role in the ED.
Madeline Demarais, OTR/L, Orthopaedics Mentor
Demarais has worked at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in orthopaedics since 2021, developing expertise in post-op rehabilitation. She has served as a clinical instructor, member of the Engagement Committee, OT fellow mentor, and has led several presentations on orthopaedic surgery within the Therapy Department.
Demarais is passionate about providing patient-centered care and coaching new therapists.
Rachel Wurtzel, OTD, OTR/L, Cardiac Mentor
Wurtzel started her career in acute care at a suburban Northwestern Medicine hospital, refining her skills as a generalist acute care practitioner. She came to Northwestern Memorial hospital where her practice has centered on patients with cardiopulmonary and thoracic diagnoses.
Wurtzel has been involved in process improvement projects to:
She also chairs the Rehabilitation Department’s committee for Professional Promotion and Advocacy. Wurtzel demonstrates a passion for teaching and mentorship exhibited by serving as a lab instructor at a local university, developing Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Student Capstone Program and designing the cardiothoracic curriculum for the fellowship program.
Fellows
Casey Cushing, OTD, OTR/L, Fellow, Class of 2025
Cushing was excited about becoming the first OT fellow at Northwestern Medicine, and she strives to be a confident and competent therapist. The fellowship has helped her ease into a full-time clinician role through additional support and collaboration with experienced clinicians. She looks forward to rotating between the different service lines, growing her skills and applying what she has learned to different patient populations.
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