Dr. Tonda L. Hughes received the inaugural Distinguished Research Award, one of the most prestigious honors presented by the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing Sept. 26.
Hughes is a professor in the Department of Health Systems Science ( HSS ). She is an international expert in the area of alcohol use among lesbians. She is also the associate dean for global health at the UIC College of Nursing, and is co-director of BIRCWH: Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health.
In accepting the award, Hughes gave a speech looking back on her road to becoming a nurse and researcher, and gave results of some of her studies on sexual identity and substance abuse. She has helped add to the number of federally funded studies looking at women's health.
Hughes' research dates back to the early 1990s. She said the UIC award "legitimizes my work." Plus, being the first honoree is not lost on Hughes "because we have a number of really excellent, highly recognized national and international researchers in the college."
Dean Terri E. Weaver of the UIC College of Nursing, and Carol Estwing Ferrans, professor and associate dean for research at the University of Illinois at Chicago, introduced the inaugural Distinguished Research Award to Hughes.
A full video of her speech is available with the online version of this article.
See full feature on Hughes here: www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Honors-roll-in-for-UIC-researcher-/48712.html .
The video playlist below contains multiple videos. Choose Playlist in the top left hand corner to watch videos out of order, if preferred.