2019
The TNQ Distinguished Lectures in the Life Sciences Series I. 9th Edition.
Helen Hobbs
Genetic Disorders of Dietary Excess:
Getting to the Heart of the Matter
Featured
Speaker
Breakthrough Prize Laureate Helen Hobbs was the 2019 Speaker of
the TNQ Distinguished Lectures in the Life Sciences
Dr Helen H. Hobbs, Investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Director of the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, was the 2019 Speaker of the ninth edition of TNQ Distinguished Lectures in the Life Sciences. She gave lectures in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and New Delhi.
About the Speaker
Professor Hobbs’ work is focussed on searching for genetic factors that contribute to, and protect us from, diseases arising from dietary excess as food has become easily available and human beings more sedentary. In 1999, along with her colleagues, Professor Hobbs established the Dallas Heart Study (DHS) aimed at identifying factors that contribute to coronary heart disease and metabolic disorders. This 3500+ population group study showed that mutations in the protein PCSK9 result in lower levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the cholesterol in the blood that leads to atherosclerosis or the clogging of arteries.
These observations led to the rapid development of two FDA-approved, anti-PCSK9 antibodies for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia and the prevention of coronary atherosclerosis. More recently, Dr Hobbs’ team has identified sequence variations that are associated with the full spectrum of alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (FLD), including steatosis, steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Research
Dr Hobbs and her team found that mutations in the protein PNPLA3 were strongly linked to this condition. Yet another screen showed that a mutation in TM6SF2 led to an increase in fat content. Dr Hobbs’ team has shown that this protein helps the liver secrete fat into the blood in triglyceride-rich lipoproteins.
Dr Hobbs attended Stanford University and Case Western Reserve Medical School before training in internal medicine at the Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas
After completing a post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr Joseph Goldstein and Dr Michael Brown, she joined the faculty of UT Southwestern. Dr Hobbs was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2004 and the National Academy of Sciences in 2007.
Awards & Honours
2007
Distinguished Scientist Award, American Heart Association
2012
International Society of Atherosclerosis Prize
2016
Passano Foundation Award (with Jonathan Cohen)
2016
Breakthrough Prize in the Life Sciences
2018
Fondation Lefoulon-Delalande Grand Prix Award
2009
Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine, American Society for Clinical Investigation & Harrington Discovery Institute
Other Resources
Helen Hobbs found a way to fight bad cholesterol, The Hindu
Cholesterol-lowering interventions to start early says Helen Hobbs, The Hindu
geneticist wages war against ‘bad’ cholesterol, The Hindu
A lifetime of finding genes to counter heart disease, The Hindu
Profile of Helen Hobbs, Breakthrough Prize
Lecture
Schedule
Hyderabad
February 11, 2019, 4.30 p.m.
Savitribai Phule Auditorium University of Hyderabad Campus
Introduction by
Dr Jyotsna Dhawan
Chief Scientist Centre for Cellular & Molecular
Biology(CCMB)
Bengaluru
February 13, 2019, 4.30 p.m.
Savitribai Phule Auditorium University of Hyderabad Campus
Introduction by
Dr Anura V. Kurpad
Professor of Physiology St. John’s Medical College
New Delhi
January 22, 2020, 6.00 p.m.
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Auditorium JNU Campus
Introduction by
Professor K. Vijay Raghavan
Principal Scientific Adviser(PSA) Government of India
Other Lectures
David Anderson
The Neural Circuitry of Sex and Violence
Mary-Claire King
Understanding Inherited Breast and Ovarian Cancer: From Gene Discovery to Precision Medicine and Public Health
Karl Deisseroth
Illuminating the Brain