[citation needed] Tobin then joined North East Surrey College of Technology where he completed his G.I.

Via university-owned IP, his team discovered a potential new ‘sun-less tanning’ small peptide technology.

[9] Tobin's laboratory was the first to report that the opioid b-endorphin acts a surprising and potent pigmentary molecule.

He reported the first recognized spontaneous and cyclical programmed cell death in the melanocyte system in humans, during the regression phase of the hair growth cycle.

[11] With vitiligo, he and his colleagues challenged the prevailing view that all melanocytes were lost/destroyed in epidermis of patients with this skin-depigmenting disorder.

He proposed that these cells survived best if un/dedifferentiated, opening up possibilities of treating even fully-white vitiligo skin of long duration.

[14] He has also advanced the understanding of how oxidative stress can weaken the melanocyte system of both the skin and aging hair follicle, and how this may be stabilized via anti-oxidant protection.

He was the first to show that patients with AA have circulating antibodies to hair follicle-specific antigens, including trichohyalin.