UT Southwestern Medical Center geneticist Dr. Helen Hobbs is the 2018 recipient of the Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine for her discovery of a novel way to reduce cholesterol. Dr. Hobbs, Director of the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development, Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular Genetics, is the fifth recipient of the Harrington Prize and the first woman to be honored.
The award is being presented to Dr. Hobbs, who is an Investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, for her discovery of the link between a mutation in the PCSK9 gene and low levels of cholesterol. Not only did her discovery lead to the swift development of a drug to lower refractory high cholesterol and thus prevent heart disease, but her research also changed the methodology used by many genetic researchers.
A committee of members of the ASCI Council and the Harrington Discovery Institute Scientific Advisory Board reviewed nominations from leading academic medical centers from three countries before selecting Dr. Hobbs as the 2018 recipient. The prize carries an honorarium of $20,000. As the winner, Dr. Hobbs will present the 2018 Harrington Prize Lecture at the Harrington Discovery Institute in Cleveland on April 20, and an essay composed by Dr. Hobbs will be published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Previous awards recognizing Dr. Hobbs’ research include the 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, the 2015 Pearl Meister Greengard Prize, and the 2016 Passano Award.
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