• Skip to main content
  • Skip to main content
Choose which site to search.
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Logo University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health
  • UAMS Health
  • Jobs
  • Giving
  • About
    • What is Public Health?
    • Message from the Dean
    • Administration
    • Mission, Vision, and Values
    • Accreditation
    • Strategic Plan
    • About Central Arkansas
    • COPH Policies
  • Future Students
    • How to Apply
    • Application Deadlines
  • Academic Programs
    • 4 + 1 Program
    • Certificate Programs
      • Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Analytics
      • Graduate Certificate in Public Health
      • Graduate Certificate in Regulatory Sciences
        • About the Graduate Certificate in Regulatory Sciences Program
        • Courses
        • How to Apply
          • Non-Degree Seeking Students Application and Eligibility Requirements
        • Additional Information
        • Tuition and Fees
      • Graduate Certificate in Environmental Health Sciences
    • Master Degree Programs
      • Master of Public Health
        • MPH, Concentration in Biostatistics
        • MPH, Concentration in Climate, Rural, and Global Public Health
        • MPH, Concentration in Epidemiology
        • MPH, Concentration in Environmental Health Sciences
        • MPH, Concentration in Health Behavior and Health Education
        • Combined Degree Programs
          • MD/MPH Combined Degree Program
          • MPS/MPH Combined Degree Program
          • JD/MPH in Public Health and Law Program
          • PharmD/MPH Combined Degree Program
        • MPH, Concentration in Health Policy and Management
      • Master of Science in Healthcare Data Analytics
      • Master of Health Administration
        • Master of Health Administration Mentorship Program
        • Master of Health Administration Student Association
    • Doctoral Degree Programs
      • Doctor of Public Health in Public Health Leadership
      • PhD in Epidemiology
      • PhD in Health Systems and Services Research
      • PhD in Health Promotion and Prevention Research
      • Doctoral Degree Program Policies
    • Program Planners
  • Students
    • Alumni
    • Non-Degree Seeking
    • New Students
      • Virtual Orientation
      • New Student Required Forms
      • New Students Resource Links
    • Current Students
      • Academic Calendar
      • Registration
        • Fall 2022 Course Schedule
        • Spring 2023 Course Schedule
        • Registration Requirements
        • Two Year Course Planner
      • Forms
        • Doctoral Program Forms
        • UAMS COPH Code of Academic Integrity Student Honor Pledge
        • UAMS COPH Student Handbook Agreement
      • Student Resources
        • External Scholarships
        • Fellowships
        • Non-Discrimination Policy
        • Public Health Scholarships
      • Student Organizations
        • 2020-2021 Student Council
        • Delta Omega-Honorary Society in Public Health
        • Honor Council
      • Student Experience Projects
      • Program Competencies
        • Certificate in Public Health and MPH Foundational Competencies
        • Certificate in Regulatory Science Program Competencies
        • MPH Biostatistics Program Competencies
        • MPH Environmental Health Sciences Program Competencies
        • MPH Epidemiology Program Competencies
        • MPH Health Behavior and Health Education Program Competencies
        • MPH Health Policy and Management Program Competencies
        • MPH Climate, Rural, and Global Public Health Program Competencies
        • MPH Combined Degree Program Competencies
        • DrPH Program Competencies
        • Ph.D. in Epidemiology Program Competencies
        • PhD in Health Promotion and Prevention Research Program Competencies
        • PhD in Health Systems and Services Research Program Competencies
        • MS Healthcare Data Analytics Program Competencies
        • Master of Health Administration Competencies
      • Public Health Biology Competency Exam
  • Faculty
    • COPH Faculty Directory
      • COPH Web Faculty Profile Form
    • Faculty Resources
      • Faculty Academic Resources
      • Faculty Research and Grant Resources
        • Grant Process Materials
      • UAMS and Other Resources
    • Professional Development
    • Current Faculty Open Positions
  • Departments and Units
    • Departments
      • Biostatistics
      • Environmental Health Sciences
        • About Us
        • Climate Change and Public Health (ENVH 5303)
        • EHS Student Success
        • Environmental Health Sciences Research Blog
        • Faculty
        • Healthy Habits by Environmental Health
      • Epidemiology
      • Health Behavior and Health Education
      • Health Policy and Management
    • Centers
      • Arkansas Center for Excellence in Birth Defects Research and Prevention
        • About the Center
        • Organization
        • Research
        • Prevention
        • Surveillance
        • News and Events
        • Peer-Reviewed Center Publications
        • Resources
        • Contact Us
      • Center for Dietary Supplements Research
        • About the Center
        • Organization
        • Research
      • Center for Research, Health, and Social Justice
        • About
        • How We Do It
      • Center for the Study of Obesity
        • Legacy
        • Meet Our Team
        • Mission
        • Research Highlights
          • Access to an Affordable and Healthy Diet
          • School Nutrition Programs
          • The Role of Modifiable Features of the Built Environment in Obesity Prevention
        • Resources
      • Southern Public Health and Criminal Justice Research Center
        • Who We Are
        • Current Projects
        • Contact Us
        • Resources
      • Arkansas Center for Health Disparities
        • About Us
        • ARCHD Distinguished Speaker Series
          • August 25, 2021: Alex Ortega, PhD
          • January 27, 2022: Daniel Dawes, JD
          • July 15, 2021: Scout, MA, PhD
          • May 13, 2021: Carol McGruder and Dr. Valerie Yerger
          • May 4, 2021: Dr. Mignonne C. Guy
        • ARCHD Organization
          • Administrative Core
          • Community Engagement and Dissemination Core
          • Investigator Development Core
        • ARCHD-T32 Pre-Doctoral Training Scholarship
        • Important Definitions to Know
        • Pilot Projects
          • 2020 Pilot Projects
          • 2021 Pilot Projects
          • 2018 Pilot Projects
          • Past Pilot Projects
        • Research Projects
        • Reports and Materials
        • Links and Resources
        • Funding Opportunities
      • Center for the Study of Tobacco
        • Director’s Message
        • Strategic Plan
        • Faculty and Staff
        • Collaborating Faculty
        • Advisory Board
        • Tobacco and Related Diseases Working Group
        • Research and Training
          • Current CST Research Projects
          • Pilot Study Program
          • Student Learning Opportunities
        • News and Social Media
        • Job Opportunities
        • Other Resources
    • Offices
      • Office of Planning and Policy
      • Office of Professional Development and Program Evaluation
      • Public Health Writing Studio
      • Office of Community Engagement
        • Projects and Activities
      • Office of Student and Alumni Affairs
        • OSAA Career Services
          • Job Prospects by Concentration
          • Public Health Careers
          • Job Search Preparation
          • Current Job Postings
          • Ongoing Job Sites and Opportunities
          • Fellowships and Internships
          • Alumni Center Stage
            • Center Stage Alumni: LaTonya Bynum
            • Center Stage Alumni: Richard Hughes IV, J.D., M.P.H.
            • COPH Alumni Center Stage Form
  • Research
    • Current Research Projects
      • CHARM
      • Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities
        • Door-to-Door Campaigning: Promoting Comprehensive COVID-19 Prevention and Protection
      • DISCOVAR Study
        • ¿En qué consiste el Estudio DISCOVAR?
          • Inscríbase en el Estudio DISCOVAR
        • Join DISCOVAR Study
      • F R E S H
        • About the Project
        • Interested in Joining This Study
        • Refer a Friend
      • Faith-Academic Initiatives for Transforming Health (FAITH) Network
      • FRESH Delivers
      • Home Together
      • NICE
      • PCORI
      • Project Heal
      • Save AR Future (SARF)
      • UQuit
    • Publications
      • 2008 Faculty Publications
      • 2009 Faculty Publications
      • 2010 Faculty Publications
      • 2011 Faculty Publications
      • 2012 Faculty Publications
      • 2013 Faculty Publications
      • 2014 Faculty Publications
      • 2015 Faculty Publications
      • 2016 Faculty Publications
      • 2017 Faculty Publications
      • 2018 Faculty Publications
    • Past Research Projects
      • College and University Contact Tracing Project
        • Higher Education Contact Tracing Call Center Reporting Form
        • K-12 Contact Tracing Reporting Form
        • Meeting Recordings
        • Guidance
        • COVID-19 Reporting Form
      • REJOICE
      • Arkansas Prevention Research Center
        • PRC News Archive
        • PRC Research
        • PRC Organization
        • Advisors
  • Community
    • AmeriCorps VISTA Program
    • Available Tools
      • Grassroots Public Health Video Series
      • Take Control: A Lay Health Advisor, Stepped Care Program To Help Persons with High Blood Pressure
        • Download Take Control Toolkit
    • Training Opportunities
      • Public Health Law: Basic Concepts for Practitioners
      • Social Determinants of Health: A Short Course
  • News
    • COVID-19 News Updates
    • Public Health Seminar Series
  • Contact Us
    • COPH Suggestion Box
    • Website Change Request Form
  • About UAMS
  • Academic Degree Programs
  • Courses
  • Departments
  1. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
  2. Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health
  3. Departments and Units
  4. Offices
  5. Office of Student and Alumni Affairs
  6. OSAA Career Services
  7. Alumni Center Stage
  8. Center Stage Alumni: Richard Hughes IV, J.D., M.P.H.

Center Stage Alumni: Richard Hughes IV, J.D., M.P.H.

Richard Hughes


Vice President, Public Policy for Moderna
Washington, District of Columbia

Master of Public Health, Health Policy & Management
Graduation Year: 2008

Why did you choose to attend COPH?

I became interested in public health for a few reasons: In 2006, I survived a brain tumor right after I was appointed by Governor Huckabee as the youngest ever member of the Arkansas State Board of health. Because of my own survival, I became involved in health policy, volunteering for the American Cancer Society and advocating for vaccine access. I lived in Little Rock at the time and was talking with a friend about the critical role that public policy plays in improving health outcomes and eliminating health disparities. He told me I was describing public health and mentioned that UAMS had established a College of Public Health. I applied almost immediately.

What is the most important thing you learned while at COPH?

That improving public health is about “multiple interventions on multiple levels.” I have found that this is true in everything from improving the health and health behavior of an individual person, to driving policy changes that shape population health. This means that one single approach is almost never enough to effect positive change.

What advice do you have for current students who want to make the most out of their experience at COPH?

Be open-minded about the path you will take when you finish because there can and will be unexpected opportunities ahead.

Describe COPH in three words.

Essential. Pioneering. Transformative.

Describe what you are currently doing for work and the path you took to get to this point.

I serve as the Vice President of Public Policy at Moderna. My path to this point involved trying to create the right opportunities to advance in my career, while also staying true to my core personal mission of improving public health. Right before graduating from the COPH, I came to Washington, D.C. for the first time on an advocacy trip and realized that I wanted to impact health policy on a national scale. On that same trip, I remember going to a “speed networking” event for young health policy professionals and handing out as many business cards as I could. Funny enough, my office ten years later would overlook the bar in Dupont Circle where I handed out those cards.

After I graduated from the COPH, I made the move to D.C. and started out leading a program at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials that advised state public health leaders on policy issues. I then joined Merck in its vaccine division to advance vaccine access through state policy. Going to the private sector from nonprofit public health was not an easy decision, but I found that Merck had a culture that was intensely focused on improving public health. I recognized that I could try different things in my career while being true to that core personal mission.

I later decided to accomplish my longtime goal of attending law school. By the end of law school I had the opportunity to work as a research assistant to Professor Sara Rosenbaum, one of the country’s greatest health law and policy scholars. Professor Rosenbaum modeled for me what it means to be an expert in your field and how to wield that expertise for good. After law school, I decided to practice healthcare law at a firm where I had the opportunity to learn and try many different things, including helping clients understand the Affordable Care Act, learning about healthcare quality and payment, and advising the British Virgin Islands on the implementation of its National Health Insurance program.

After my detour in law, I found my way back to vaccines, joining the D.C. healthcare consulting firm Avalere Health. I founded the firm’s vaccines group, which did groundbreaking work to improve vaccine policy in the United States. The world was then unexpectedly changed by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a race to develop an effective vaccine to combat the virus. Among the companies developing a vaccine at unparalleled speed was a Cambridge, Massachusetts biotech company called Moderna. I knew about Moderna’s mRNA technology for years, but then the world took notice that it could help end the pandemic. I realized that the promise of mRNA went far beyond COVID-19 and could prevent many other diseases in the future. So I joined Moderna to be a part of our bold and relentless mission as its first head of public policy.

How did your education at COPH prepare you for what you are doing today?

Because of my education at the COPH, I can navigate many different conversations in a given day on a variety of challenging topics. I work with epidemiologists, clinical experts, health economists and scientists. As a lawyer and policy expert, I could never possibly understand all of those areas of expertise as much as the respective professionals, but my MPH provides me with the necessary knowledge and credibility to work with them every day to improve public health in a meaningful way.

What is your greatest professional accomplishment?

Shaping policy to improve access to vaccines.

What advice would you give current students or recent graduates interested in pursuing a career in your professional field?

If you want to shape public policy, be bold! I have often told younger professionals that no idea is a bad idea. We might need to shape the idea to make it work in the world, but to be successful, we must all find a way to champion our ideas. Along the way, you will figure out how to be your own effective champion and it is worth the trying.

What is something people may not know about you?

I was a poor student through college and tried and failed many times to gain admission to law school. At many points, I doubted myself and my abilities and it took me many years to feel that I was really a successful person. Many days, I still have to remind myself.

UAMS College of Public Health LogoUAMS College of Public HealthUniversity of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Mailing Address: 4301 West Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72205
Phone: (501) 526-6614
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy

© 2023 University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences