UT Southwestern Medical Center geneticist Dr. Helen Hobbs has clinched another prestigious science award.

She is one of three winners of the Grand Prize in Science from the Lefoulon-Delalande Foundation at the Institute of France for her role in pinpointing a gene mutation that affects cholesterol levels.

Hobbs' research led to a drug that lowers cholesterol and changed the methodology used by many genetic researchers, according to UT Southwestern.

UT Southwestern geneticist Helen Hobbs' research on cholesterol is featured in the Being Human Hall at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences she received in 2016 is on the left. (Miguel Perez / Staff )

She shares the honor and its roughly $700,000 purse with two scientists who made discoveries in the same subject, Dr. Catherine Boileau of Necker Hospital in Paris and Dr. Nabil Seidah of the Montreal Clinical Research Institute.

Hobbs has already collected the 2015 Pearl Meister Greengard Prize, the 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, the 2016 Passano Award and the 2018 Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine. Could a Nobel be next?

Last week, UT Southwestern Medical Center was ranked as the top academic medical center in the world for scientific research in the Nature Index 2018 Annual Tables. Its faculty has received six Nobel Prizes since 1985.

Our Friends Place turns 30

Our Friends Place celebrated its 30th anniversary at an April gala that grossed $370,000 for the charity, which helps struggling young women.

The event at the Omni Dallas Hotel honored Ebby Award winners Kaleta Ann Doolin and the Junior League of Dallas for their efforts to advance girls and women in North Texas.

In addition, Our Friends Place presented its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award to founder Susybelle Lyons Gosslee.

Todd Whitley held the bullhorn microphone for Susybelle Lyons Gosslee as faith leaders and concerned citizens gathered on the front steps of the Frank Crowley Courts Building in 2014 to protest the death penalty. (File Photo / Staff )

"The investment in helping young women grow from adversity to self-reliance and independence is life-changing now and in the future," said executive director Sue Thiers Hesseltine.

Honorary co-chairs were Netta Blanchard and Jefflyn Williamson, and event chairs were Suzanne Jaco, Angela Maverick and Leslie Simmons.

Supporters included:

$30,000: Ben E. Keith Co. and HollyFrontier Corp.

$10,000: Paladin Partners and 12 General Contracting Services.

$5,000: BDO, Ebby Halliday Realtors, Frito-Lay, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sister Fund, Vinson & Elkins, Kelley and Keith Burks, Kris and Edward Burks, Suzan and Pete Fenner, Helen LaKelly Hunt and Harville Hendrix, Sue and Jack Hesseltine and Brenda and David Snitzer.

$3,000: Edge Realty Partners, EY, Frost Bank, Susybelle Lyons Gosslee, Angela Maverick and Sean Baxley, Leslie Simmons and Rick Johnson, and Brad and Jill Svoboda.

Follow our coverage of the North Texas philanthropic community.