Roy Baynes received his MB, BCh (Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery) from the University of Witwatersrand, where he also received an MMed (specialist registration) and completed a PhD exploring mechanisms of human iron metabolism.

After additional clinical training in Johannesburg, and service on the faculty of the Department of Medicine at the University of Witwatersrand Medical School, Roy moved to the United States and joined the Division of Hematology in the Department of Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center where he served as Professor of Medicine in both hematology and bone marrow transplantation. From 1997 until 2002, he led the bone marrow transplantation service at the Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University in Detroit, where he was also a Professor of Medicine (Medicine, Hematology and Oncology), and the Charles Martin Professor of Cancer Research. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the College of Physicians of South Africa.

Thereafter, Roy joined Amgen, Inc., where he became Vice President of Global Development and head of the hematology/oncology development team. He left Amgen in 2012 to become Senior Vice President at Gilead, Inc. where he led the establishment of the Oncology, Respiratory and Inflammation TAs, and joined Merck in 2013 where he was Senior Vice President and Head of Clinical Development and Chief Medical Officer. At Merck he was responsible for the development of the entire clinical portfolio in Merck Research Laboratories and was the architect of the development strategy for dozens of important new medicines including Keytruda®, a drug that has revolutionized cancer treatment around the world.

After retiring from Merck in 2022, Roy took on the role of EVP and Chief Medical Officer at Eikon Therapeutics. He is a member of the Board of Directors for Natera Inc., and Travere Inc. He is a compensated advisor to Nurix Inc. and to Decheng Capital.