Meet Robert Kania

Introduction

"Think different" may be known best as an Apple Computer advertising slogan, but it might as well be Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery Robert Kania’s personal motto. A creative problem solver since childhood, this native Californian has more than 40 patents and publications in organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and oncology to his name.

With a sister and childhood best friend both affected by cancer, Robert didn’t have to put a lot of thought in what he wanted to do professionally. After finishing his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and working in industry for a couple of years, he entered Harvard University to study with E.J. Corey (the 1990 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry) exploring the total synthesis of biologically active natural products.

An American Chemical Society’s 2018 ACS Award for Creative Invention recipient and 2018 and 2021 ACS Heroes in Chemistry Awardee, Robert fills his free time with activities that also call on his creative thinking abilities—navigating Spartan Race obstacle courses on land and surfing waves on the Pacific Ocean. Now, discover more about Robert Kania, one of Kinnate's outstanding people.

You’ve had a long and distinguished career in drug discovery and have several FDA-approved cancer drugs under your belt, including axitinib for renal cell carcinoma. What drew you to the field of cancer drug discovery?

Cancer was always present when I was growing up: my sister lost an eye to cancer and my best friend had kidney cancer as a child. I saw the way cancer impacted the people around me and it motivated me to use my talents to improve their, and other people’s, lives. They still motivate me to this day.

You’ve also worked for much larger companies. Why was coming to Kinnate the next step in your career?

It was really the opportunity to build on what I already saw Kinnate doing. I wanted to be part of a passionate and talented team, where—together—we could build a culture and strategy that focused squarely on discovering quality drugs to treat cancer patients. Kinnate is the right size, the right culture, and the right strategy for me.

What do you do in your role as Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery?

As Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery for this rapidly growing company, I build and lead teams that discover next generation targeted therapies for cancer patients. Together these groups do everything from selecting the cancer driving mutations we want to tackle next, to iterating through hypotheses and prototype drug designs (thousands of molecules), to finding the right gauntlet of assays and models that test the drug properties wrapped into each prototype, to making the final pill, containing the active ingredient we have created and selected for patients to take. I’m also designing our specialized workspace, along with other members of my team, which will encourage collaboration, structure-based drug design, and facilitate a highly interactive, multi-disciplined approach to drug discovery.

What do you like the most about your job?

Being part of a team that makes a difference for patients is very rewarding. Operating in a team culture that respectfully challenges each other, leaders included, and feels confident in arriving at the best decision or plan is evidence to me that we have a very strong culture of high-performing teams. Drug discovery has it challenges, but we've been really successful together.

The word “discovery” brings to mind out-of-the-box thinkers and incredible breakthroughs. As the Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery, in what ways do you think differently?

Ever since I was a kid, I was interested in solving problems. But I learned a bit differently than other kids. I wasn’t great at taking notes or memorizing lists of facts, but could easily understand and apply concepts. How things worked was always most interesting to me. I owe a lot to my high school chemistry teacher, Bill Cunningham, who really supported my unique learning style. I thought it was more of a weakness, but he saw it as a strength and fostered it. I fell in love with science and math, but especially chemistry in high school.

How do you think Bill’s recognition and fostering of your unique learning style influences your current work as a researcher and as a manager?

Now, I feel confident in taking unique approaches and encourage others to do the same. Especially, as a manager, I encourage our scientists to build on each other’s ideas and challenge the status quo for their project, as they invariably know more details on any one given aspect than anyone else. I try to provide guidance that helps team members think deeply and differently about very complex problems, while being very supportive of their conclusions. A productive discovery team is not top-down; solutions come from every corner of the department.

Can you describe some of the science you are currently working on?

We are working on molecules that penetrate cancer cells to stop uncontrolled processes driven by the mutations that cause cancer. Specifically, we’re looking at mutations and signaling networks we think are highly validated. We want to find the best medicine that can help those patients who are still not benefiting from current therapies. We're working across a number of projects in a very dynamic way, progressing fast, sharing observations across disciplines, and pivoting and reacting to our own discoveries to go into new directions. Because of this, we’re able to advance into clinical trials potential therapies to treat patients with lung cancer and melanoma.

How is the work at Kinnate different from other prior work?

I think there are probably two things that make it different. First, the depth of experience on the team. We are a closely integrated, relatively small internal team that has a big-picture understanding of what really matters when it comes to discovering quality drugs and being able to execute. Second, we leverage technologies that deliver results, taking full advantage of diverse approaches, whether they are tried and true or promising modern approaches. I have seen teams here cut through the noise and ignore distractions—able to discern what information matters most from what doesn't and abandon methods that are not working to pursue what is working.

Outside of the lab and work, how do you like to spend your time?

I definitely like to spend time with my family. I have two daughters and they are both young adults now so I don't get to see them as much as I used to. Apart from that, I probably spend most of my time these days competing in obstacle course races. Most people are familiar with “American Ninja Warrior” because it’s on TV. I mostly do Spartan Races, which are typically run on mountain trails. Before an Achilles tendon injury in 2018, I was actually second overall in my age group in the US series of five races. My second passion is surfing. Unfortunately, the tendon injury has kept me off the surfboard more than I would have liked! I love getting outdoors and just recharging.

It seems that even outside of work, your brain enjoys problem solving and finding creative ways to overcome obstacles! Obviously, the obstacle course races feed into that, but does surfing help calm you down?

For me, surfing actually both challenges and calms. It can go from very, very relaxing to very humbling in a matter of seconds. It’s challenging to figure out what movement to do when; there’s unedited immediate feedback from the ocean! Obstacle courses are the same way. I’m not a natural runner, but I think strategically for the most effective approach to each obstacle. Unlike surfing, it’s not a possible life or death situation if you fail an obstacle, but you do have to do 30 burpees which provides plenty of motivation.

Many have picked up new hobbies during the pandemic, is there anything that you’ve gotten into?

You know, I have. I discovered binge watching for the first time and I realized there are a lot of good shows that I’ve missed out on seeing. I’ve worked my way through a number of series. Sometimes its 10 years’ worth of shows! I watch a lot of British crime dramas and really enjoyed “The Blacklist.” I just worked my way through “Survivor.” I'd never seen an episode of “Survivor” before the pandemic.

“Survivor” does seem a fitting choice! Any words of wisdom you’ve picked up along the way that have helped you survive and thrive in your career?

I was lucky enough to have studied under the father of modern organic synthesis, E.J. Corey, while pursuing my Ph.D. at Harvard. One truism that I learned from him is that you can't find elegant solutions to complicated problems with a simple set of tools. In order to get real quality drugs, you need to strive toward efficient molecules, but not be limited by the complexity of methods needed to make those discoveries.

And finally, what is something most of your co-workers wouldn’t know about you?

We’re a close community at Kinnate, so we know a lot about each other. But my colleagues may not know that I enjoy woodworking. In recent years, I have built a fence, a tree house, a small wine cellar, and, yes, some obstacles for obstacle course racing.?