Skip to main content
ISTH 2024 Main banner
Back

Ruby H. Law, PhD

Group Leasder
Monash University
Clayton, Victoria, Australia

A/Prof Ruby Law, PhD, is a Research Group Leader at Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Monash University.

She completed her PhD in yeast mitochondrial bioenergetics at Monash University and later became interested in translational research. Ruby developed recombinant glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) in Autogen to study autoantibodies in Type II diabetes mellitus patients. She also worked on a protease called cathepsin B from liver fluke, which was developed into a diagnostic kit for fluke infection in CRC for Vaccine.

In 2002, she joined the Structural Biology Group at Monash University, led by Prof James Whisstock. She became a structural biologist focusing on complex proteins' structure and function relationships there. Ruby solved the first X-ray crystal structures of human full-length plasminogen, alpha2-antiplasmin, GAD, perforin, and many others.

Currently, her research focuses on understanding the intermolecular interaction between molecules and their functional partners and their translational applications. Ruby's interests include the regulation of fibrinolytic proteases, particularly plasminogen, plasminogen activators, and plasmin inhibitors in wound healing. She also studies the structure and function of pore-forming proteins and complexes, especially in mammalian pore-forming proteins involved in eliminating infected or transformed cells and pathogens and immunity. Furthermore, Ruby conducts structure and function studies of GAD, particularly in the implications of the development of neurological disorders such as anxiety disorder, stiff-person syndrome, epilepsy, and chronic pain. She is passionate about developing pipelines and infrastructures to generate human monoclonal antibodies rapidly and co-invents The Monash University High-diversity Synthetic Human Phage Fab Library to screen monoclonal antibodies against a broader target range.

In addition to her research, Ruby is passionate about providing mentorship and training for female migrant scientists to help their transition from overseas to employment in Australia.

Presentation(s):