Investor Spotlight: Ruby Grewal, BSE’88, MBA’93

Ruby Grewal’s relationship with Duke University began when she studied Biomedical Engineering (BME) as an undergraduate. During that time, Ruby developed an interest in US health care delivery systems after taking Medical Informatics courses within the BME department. Ruby began her professional career in Duke’s Department of Medical Informatics (now the Duke Center for Health Informatics). Ruby remembers the experience as, “a non-traditional but fascinating way to learn the intricacies of the U.S. healthcare system.”

Ruby went on to earn her “Double Duke” status, obtaining an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at the University. She harnessed her business education to gain exposure to new concepts and to better understand the economic drivers of the healthcare marketplace. Rather than returning to the informatics industry, Ruby made the leap to Wall Street. There she worked as a sell-side equity research analyst, covering healthcare information technology, contract research organizations and drug distribution companies. She later transitioned to the buy-side as a portfolio manager, where she invested across healthcare but gravitated towards small and mid-cap biopharma companies.

In 2016, Ruby left Wall Street after almost 20 years to take on another new challenge as an operator at biopharma startup Roivant. This would lead to her current role as Chief Strategy Officer at Proteovant, one of Roivant’s portfolio companies. Ruby oversees Proteovant’s strategic direction, facilitates business development, and manages an intellectual property portfolio. She leverages her deep experience in healthcare and finance to shape Proteovant’s early discovery-stage pipeline and corporate strategy. Ruby serves on the Board of Advisors of Life Science Cares New York and on the Board of Caltech Associates, an organization dedicated to promoting Caltech’s research and educational initiatives.

As an alumna, Ruby has long been dedicated to promoting the entrepreneurial ecosystem at Duke. Ruby is a mentor for the Duke Founder’s Advancement Network (D-FAN). She is a current member of the Duke Pratt School of Engineering Board of Visitors and previously served two terms on the Duke School of Nursing Board of Advisors. She also serves on the University’s Research Translation and Commercialization Advisory Board. By remaining an active member of the very community which helped propel her personal career, Ruby has provided invaluable support to the next generation of Duke leaders.

Steadfastly influenced by her foundational engineering learnings at Pratt, Ruby brings a unique investor lens to Duke Capital Partners (DCP). “It comes down to following the science and understanding where and how it can impact an unmet need in a profitable manner,” Ruby said when asked to break down her investment thesis. Ruby’s involvement with DCP provides her with a window into the most innovative work within the Duke community. DCP also fosters meaningful relationships with other Duke alums who share Ruby’s passion for paying-it-forward, supporting the next generation of innovative Duke leaders, and is a mechanism to stay deeply engaged with the university which launched her career.

Learn more about Duke Capital Partner investors on our Investors page.