Helen Hobbs, MD

Professor
Endowed Title: [1995] Dallas Heart Ball Chair in Cardiology Research
Philip O'Bryan Montgomery Jr., M.D., Distinguished Chair in Developmental Biology
Eugene McDermott Distinguished Chair for the Study of Human Growth and Development
Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth & Development, Internal Medicine, Molecular Genetics
Graduate Program: Genetics and Development

Contact Information

UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75390

helen.hobbs@utsouthwestern.edu

To make an appointment, call 214-645-8300.

Biography

Helen H. Hobbs, M.D. is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular Genetics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. She was born in Boston and obtained her undergraduate degree in human biology from Stanford University prior to attending Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. After completing an internship in internal medicine at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, she moved to Dallas, Texas where she finished her clinical training and served as chief resident in internal medicine at Parkland Memorial Hospital. She worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Drs. Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein before joining the faculty of UT Southwestern in 1987. She is Director of the McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development, which serves as the Center for Human Genetics at UT Southwestern.  She is also Director of the Dallas Heart Study, a longitudinal, multiethnic, population-based study of Dallas County. Her work focuses on defining the genetic determinants of plasma lipoprotein levels and cardiovascular risk. She is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. She received the the American Heart Association Clinical Research Prize, the Heinrich Wieland Prize and the 2007 American Heart Association Distinguished Scientist Award.

Education

FellowshipParkland Health & Hospital System, Endocrinology & Metabolism (1986)
ResidencyParkland Health & Hospital System, Internal Medicine (1983)
InternshipColumbia Presbyterian Medical Center, Internal Medicine (1980)
Medical SchoolCase Western Reserve University (1979)

Research Interests

Genetic determinants of plasma lipid levels
Genetics of fatty liver disease
LDL metabolism
Role of ABC transporters in lipid transport

Publications

Featured
Sequence Variations in PCSK9, Low LDL, and Protection against Coronary Heart Disease.

Jonathan C. Cohen, Ph.D., Eric Boerwinkle, Ph.D., Thomas H. Mosley, Jr., Ph.D., and Helen H. Hobbs, M.D. , New England Journal of Medicine , March 2006; (354):1310-1312

Featured
Human fatty liver disease: old questions and new insights.

Cohen JC, Horton JD, Hobbs HH, Science (New York, N.Y.), 2011 Jun; 332 (6037):1519-23

Featured
A feed-forward loop amplifies nutritional regulation of PNPLA3.

Huang Y, He S, Li JZ, Seo YK, Osborne TF, Cohen JC, Hobbs HH, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2010 Apr; 107 (17):7892-7

Featured
Genetic variation in PNPLA3 confers susceptibility to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Romeo S, Kozlitina J, Xing C, Pertsemlidis A, Cox D, Pennacchio LA, Boerwinkle E, Cohen JC, Hobbs HH, Nature genetics, 2008 Dec; 40 (12):1461-5

Honors/Awards

American Heart Association Distinguished Scientist Award

(2007)

National Academy of Sciences, 2007

(2007)

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

(2006)

Heinrich Wieland Prize, 2005

(2005)

Institute of Medicine, 2004

(2004)

The Association of American Physicians, 1997

(1997)

American Society of Clinical Investigation, 1991

(1991)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

American Society of Clinical Investigation

American Society of Human Genetics

Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Disease Council of the American Heart Association

The Association of American Physicians