GSBS Distinguished Alumnus Award

The GSBS Distinguished Alumnus Award is presented annually to a graduate who has made outstanding contributions in the area of service, involvement and leadership or has achieved special recognition in his or her professional career.  This is the highest honor bestowed to an alumnus by the GSBS Associates.

2022 Recipient
Adrian N. Billings, MD, PhD, FAAFP
Class of 1998 - Experimental Pathology Program

Dr. Billings received his doctorate degree in experimental pathology from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 1998. He then went to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, to work in a biosafety level 4 lab on a hantavirus project infecting rats.  He returned to Texas in 1999 to attend medical school and graduated from UTMB in 2003. After residency training, Dr. Billings opened a federally qualified health center in Alpine, Texas and served as a solo private practice physician providing a full-spectrum family medicine with obstetrics and hospital coverage. He continues to provide medical care for underserved rural and frontier medical communities in west Texas. He is an associate professor of family and community medicine at Texas Tech Health Sciences Center School of Medicine - Permian Basin and was instrumental in establishing a two-year rural training track for family medicine residents. Dr. Billings is an advocate for rural health care at the state, national and international levels. He has been published in more than 15 peer reviewed journals, nine abstracts and has made more than 70 presentations during his career.

 Previous Distinguished Alumni Recipients

For information on the GSBS Distinguished Alumnus Award, contact Denise Reed at 409-772-5840 or email djreed@utmb.edu