Abby D’Cruz

DPhil Clinical Medicine 2015

The turf of Twickenham is about as far as you can get from Abby D’Cruz’s early childhood. Her parents worked their way out of the poverty of Mumbai and moved the family to Dubai. The day before Abby’s eighth birthday they migrated to Perth, Western Australia.

Abby arrived at Keble in 2015 having played hockey and touch rugby at a national level. She was encouraged to try Women’s Rugby by fellow Keblite and Oxford’s Vice Captain, Leanne Robinson. In 2018, Abby captained the First XV, losing by the narrowest of margins against the old enemy.

She always excelled at sport: “it’s illegal not to play something in Australia”, she says. But it was her mother’s shock diagnosis with advanced liver cancer that drove Abby towards a career in science. She completed her BSc with a First at the Australian National University in Canberra.

After a two-year break from academia, spent travelling and managing two Canberra restaurants, she was ready for new challenges. During a late night session trawling the internet researching Rhodes Scholars, she found details of an Oxford-based stem cell research project similar to the work she had already done. She emailed Professor Simon Leedham and was offered a place. One application to one course—serendipity.

She knew very little about Oxford apart from a fleeting visit during a hockey tour—bikes and old buildings being her overriding memory. Keble awarded her a de Breyne/Clarendon Scholarship and she quickly threw herself into College life becoming MCR Vice President and representing the University at local, regional and international touch football tournaments.

“Every facet of my life at Oxford has been enabled by Keble; the scholarships, the MCR and its support of Women’s Rugby. I haven’t had to ask for anything. Everything is set up so you can get the best out of your time here.”