Basic Medical Sciences Graduate Program Student Receives Edwin R. Hughes Award

David Schmitt Jr. (right), recipient of the Edwin R. Hughes Memorial Award, is shown with Dr. Samuel J. Strada, dean of the USA College of Medicine.

David Schmitt Jr., a second-year student in the University of South Alabama Basic Medical Sciences Interdisciplinary Graduate Program, was recently awarded the Edwin R. Hughes Memorial Award.

The award is named in memory of Edwin R. Hughes, who served as director of the Basic Medical Sciences Graduate Program at the USA College of Medicine from its inception in 1978 until 1990. The award, which will be given annually, recognizes the student with the best performance in the curriculum.

Schmitt received his undergraduate degree in pre-medicine from Pensacola Christian College in 2009.

The USA Basic Medical Sciences Graduate Program’s first doctoral degrees were awarded in 1983. To date, the program has awarded 174 doctoral degrees to students who have concentrated their advanced studies in the areas of biochemistry and molecular biology, cell biology and neuroscience, lung biology, microbiology and immunology, pharmacology, and physiology.

The Edwin R. Hughes Memorial Award was established in 2008 through donations from the Basic Medical Sciences Graduate faculty members and graduates of the program. To make a contribution to the Edwin R. Hughes Memorial Award, call (251) 460-7032.