Lab Members

CURRENT

Ryan Hobbs, Ph.D.

Primary Investigator

Dr. Hobbs started the lab at the Penn State College of Medicine in July 2017. Dr. Hobbs is originally from Grandview, MO, just outside of Kansas City, MO. He received a B.S. in Biochemistry and a B.A in Microbiology from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2004. His doctoral degree was conferred in 2010 from Northwestern University, where he was mentored by Dr. Kathleen Green in the Department of Pathology. His postdoctoral training was under the mentorship of Dr. Pierre Coulombe in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health (2011-2017).

Ting Gao, M.S.

Lab Manager and Advanced Research Technologist

Joined Hobbs Lab in Oct 2017

Kyle Patrick, B.S.

Joined Hobbs Lab in Aug 2021

Kyle Patrick is in the Biomedical Sciences PhD program at the Penn State College of Medicine. His dissertation research focuses on the role of AIRE in regulating the cellular response to DNA damaging agents in skin keratinocytes. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Lebanon Valley College in Annville, PA.

Asmita Nandi, M.S.

Joined Hobbs Lab in March 2025

Asmita is in the Biomedical Sciences PhD program at the Penn State College of Medicine. She is interested in studying the role of autoimmune regulator (AIRE) in skin carcinogenesis. She earned her Bachelor of Technology in Biotechnology in India and her Master of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she researched the aged tumor microenvironment’s impact on melanoma progression.

Zain Ul-Abideen, B.S.

Joined Hobbs Lab in June 2025

Zain is in the MD/PhD program at the Penn State College of Medicine. He received his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Siena College, where he began his scientific career studying heat shock proteins in sessile organisms as they adapt to environmental stress. He then transitioned to working on developing novel RNA therapeutics for autoimmune skin conditions under the mentorship of Dr. Anastasia Khvorova and Dr. John Harris in the RNA Therapeutics Institute at UMass Chan Medical School. Currently he is interested in studying the role of AIRE deficiency in alopecia areata & vitiligo pathogenesis in the lab. Outside of the lab, Zain likes to travel, nap, working out and enjoying food with friends & family.