Helen H. Hobbs

Helen H. Hobbs is a Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular Genetics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She directs the McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development and the Dallas Heart Study, a longitudinal multiethnic population-based study.

• Education: Stanford University (Undergraduate), Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (MD)

Her research integrates human genetics and functional studies to elucidate mechanisms of lipid metabolism disorders, cardiovascular risk, and fatty liver disease. Recent work highlights roles of PNPLA3 and HSD17B13 in liver disease susceptibility and structural insights into sterol transporters like ABCG5/ABCG8.

Her publications span structural biology, metabolic research, and population genetics. Key trends include genetic determinants of lipid trafficking, cross-ethnic disease risk analysis, and translational applications of gene discovery.

• Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2015)
• Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine (2018)
• Heinrich Wieland Prize (2005)
• National Academy of Sciences (2007)
• International Atherosclerosis Society Prize (2012)

Dr. Hobbs contributes to academic medicine through leadership in the Hobbs-Cohen Laboratory and grants from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and the Hoffman Family Center in Genetics and Epidemiology.