Dr. Hughes holds the title of Professor Emerita at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she was Collegiate Professor and Associate Dean for Global Health in the College of Nursing, and Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health. She also holds honorary appointments in Australia (University of Technology-Sydney & Deakin University), England (Oxford Brookes University) and in the U.S. (University of Pennsylvania). Dr. Hughes has a distinguished career in substance abuse research focusing on women’s mental health (total funding exceeding $20 million USD) and is an internationally recognized expert in sexual minority (lesbian and bisexual) women’s health. Her pioneering studies on the predictors and consequences of alcohol use among sexual minority women have received funding since 1999 from the National Institutes of Health and have grown into the world’s longest running longitudinal study of alcohol use and health among sexual minority women. She has served as Co-Investigator on numerous other funded studies with researchers from major U.S. and Australian institutions, including the University of Melbourne where she was a Visiting Professor from 2009-2014.