NIAAA Honors Dr. Robert B. Huebner with Senator Harold Hughes Award
Robert B. Huebner, Ph.D., a longtime coordinator and champion of alcohol treatment research during his career at NIAAA and after his retirement from the federal government, received the Senator Harold Hughes Memorial Award today from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. NIAAA Director George F. Koob, Ph.D., announced the Institute’s selection during the 167th meeting of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
The Hughes Award recognizes the contributions of an individual whose work translates research into practice, and builds bridges across the alcohol prevention, treatment and policy-making communities. The award is named for Harold Hughes, a former Governor of Iowa and U.S. Senator, and a major force behind the Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Act of 1970, which created NIAAA. Until his death in 1996, Senator Hughes remained active in the alcohol field, founding recovery centers and raising awareness about alcohol’s impact on health.
“In a career spanning nearly four decades—including 30 years at NIAAA—Dr. Huebner played a key role in fostering efforts to promote evidence-based research and its implementation in everyday practice,” said Dr. Koob. “After his retirement from NIAAA, Dr. Huebner served as Chair of the Friends of NIAAA from 2018 to 2023, where he brought his experience to bear to advance alcohol research more broadly. On behalf of NIAAA, I am pleased to present him with the 2024 Hughes Award for his outstanding leadership in bridging the alcohol research, prevention, treatment, and policy-making communities to advance the translation of evidence-based research into practice.”
About the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA):
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, is the primary U.S. agency for conducting and supporting research on the causes, consequences, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of alcohol use disorder. NIAAA also disseminates research findings to general, professional, and academic audiences. Additional alcohol research information and publications are available at www.niaaa.nih.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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