About Professor Rob Baxter
Studying the mechanisms of cell growth and survival has excited me throughout my career -- there’s always more to discover.
Rob Baxter leads an internationally recognised team of experts studying the biochemistry, cell biology, physiology and clinical aspects of the insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) and their binding proteins, which are important regulators of cell growth, survival and differentiation.
Since 1994 Rob Baxter has been the Director of the Kolling Institute of Medical Research, a position he took after almost 20 years in the Department of Endocrinology, at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney. Within the Kolling Institute he heads the Hormones and Cancer Group, which includes one of the leading research teams internationally in studying the endocrinology, biochemistry and cell biology of the insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) and their binding proteins. His research has contributed to understanding both the regulation of normal tissue and body growth, and the aberrant cellular growth in cancer and overgrowth syndromes. The group’s notable achievements include characterizing the protein complexes which carry IGFs in the circulation, and discovering how IGF binding proteins affect cancer cell growth by modulating cell signaling pathways. His collaborative clinical studies have significantly advanced understanding of the role of these proteins in a variety of conditions including pregnancy, tumour-related hypoglycemia, and critical illness. He also has a long-standing interest in diagnostics, and tests developed through his research are now in clinical use internationally to diagnose growth disorders. In 2003 he established the Laboratory for Cellular and Diagnostic Proteomics in the Kolling Institute, and is now involved in both cell biology and clinical proteomic studies aimed at cancer diagnosis and disease biomarker discovery. Rob has served the national and international research communities as a member of scientific advisory committees, conference organising committees and journal editorial boards. He is a former president of the Endocrine Society of Australia, former member of Research Committee and chair of the Career Development Awards committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), and currently on the executive of the International Society for IGF Research. Since 2006 he has chaired the National Committee for Biomedical Science of the Australian Academy of Science. Rob was awarded his PhD in Biochemistry in 1973, and his DSc in 1990. He has received national and international awards for his research including the Dale Medal of the British Endocrine Society (1993), the Wellcome Australia Medal (1994), the Lemberg Medal of the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (1997) and the Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research (2002). He became a Fellow of the Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists (FAACB) in 1987, and was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA) in 2004. His publications have been cited >16,000 times and he is an ISI Highy Cited Researcher in Biology and Biochemistry (http://hcr3.isiknowledge.com/author.cgi?&link1=Browse&link2=Results&id=5605) with an “h” index of 69.