Janice Phillips, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN

In 2011, Dr. Phillips completed the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship working in the office of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D-VA) where she analyzed complex data in support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and prescription drug abuse legislation. From 2013-2017, Janice assumed the role of Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at CGFNS International where she helped positioned the organization in receiving their 5-year reauthorization from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to issue Visa Screen ® certificates to foreign educated health care professionals and securing first time NGO Consultative Status with the United Nations. As the former Director of Nursing Research and Health Equity at Rush University Medical Center and an Associate Professor in the College of Nursing, Dr. Phillips served as a system wide leader in supporting health equity as a shared goal and integrating health equity across the Rush Health system’s education, research, and clinical endeavors. She is the author of over 150 publications, 5 edited textbooks, and the inaugural health policy columnist for the Minority Nurse magazine. Her OpEds have appeared in Scientific American, the Hill, and U.S. News and World Report. Janice is a member of the American Academy of Nursing and the recipient of numerous awards including the Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award, the Nursing Spectrum Advancing and Leading the Profession Award, The National Black Nurses' Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the University of Illinois College of Nursing SAGE Award, four distinguished alumni awards, and the Marcia Pencak Murphy Presidential Mentorship Award. In 2019, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra appointed Janice to serve on the National Advisory Council of Nursing Education and Practice and in 2020, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker appointed her to serve on the Illinois State Board of Health. In July 2023, Illinois J.B. Governor Pritzker appointed her to serve as the Assistant Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. In May 2024, Janice received Illinois Senate confirmation as the Assistant Director of the Illinois Department of Health. Dr. Phillips holds a BSN from North Park College, an MS in Community Health from St. Xavier School of Nursing, and a PhD in Nursing from the University of Illinois, College of Nursing.