Ruth Plummer is Professor of Experimental Cancer Medicine, Newcastle University, and an honorary consultant medical oncologist at Newcastle Hospitals. She directs the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre and leads the Newcastle Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre and CRUK Newcastle Cancer Centre. Her research interests are the development of novel anticancer agents and early clinical trials to help develop new treatments.
She trained at Cambridge and Oxford Universities, completing both a medical degree and PhD, before moving to Newcastle to train in medical oncology and cancer drug development. She was appointed Senior Lecturer and Consultant Medical Oncologist in 2004 and Professor in 2008.
In addition to her research interests, she has an active clinical practice treating skin cancer, both in the advanced and adjuvant settings, and with an associated clinical trials portfolio including both early and later phase trials
Nationally she sits on grant funding committees for CRUK, MRC and NIHR, and was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2018 for her work developing PARP inhibitors as a new treatment for cancer patients.
