Dr Ruby Baxter

Ruby is Emmanuel's Herchel Smith Fellow in Medicine, elected in 2025. 

Biography

Ruby studied Biological Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge focusing on cellular biology and physiology. She then remained in Cambridge for a Master of Research where she was introduced to platelet biology by Professor Harper. This led to a PhD with Professor Harper, in collaboration with Professor Ghevaert, across the Department of Pharmacology and the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. 

Teaching

As a Teaching and Research Fellow, Ruby will be joining the team of Medical Fellows to deliver teaching to Emmanuel’s pre–clinical medical students.

Research

Ruby’s research has focused on a subpopulation of platelets (pro–coagulant platelets). Pro–coagulant platelets enhance coagulation in haemostasis and thrombosis, the latter underpinning major diseases such as heart attack and stroke. She has taken a new approach to identify possible drug targets within these pro–coagulant platelets. This has involved using CRISPR Cas9 gene editing technology to produce genetic knockouts in human stem cells. These stem cells were used to produce human megakaryocytes, the platelet precursor cell, in vitro. Her work will continue to use this approach to further explore pro–coagulant platelet function. She aims to expand her work to study other cell types, such as endothelial cells, which are also known to enhance coagulation.