Karen Knudsen did not grow in a scientifically centered house. She grew up in a military family. But at an early age, like a “naturally curious” girl, he came to love the experience of discovery and gravitated to mathematics and sciences. That led Knudsen to assume that one day he would become a doctor. But his career was in another scientific direction, beginning with a period as a summer research intern that works in the laboratory at the National Cancer Institute during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s.
“There was so much interest in trying to understand retrovirus and HIV, so I went to a laboratory that was actually using retrovirus as a way of studying cancer,” he recalled in a recent interview with the Julia Bortstin series of CNBC for the list of CNB changemakers changers. 2024). “I was very interested in that direct line. How am I doing now in the laboratory has the opportunity to impact a life, and I got hooked, and I never looked back,” he said?
Knudsen's experience as an oncology researcher in large medical care systems, and see many mergers that were carried out around them, which led to the understanding that it could help to know more about the medical care business. She chose to chase an MBA. “I'm not sure I will forget my husband's appearance when I got home one day and said: 'I'm going to get my MBA,'” Knudsen recalled. “That was probably one of the most unexpected decisions.”
Ultimately, it led Knudsen to become the first female CEO of the American cancer society rather than the century, although she says it is even more important that she was the first CEO of the organization that came from oncological research. Under Knudsen's leadership, ACS's income increased by more than 30%.
Recently, Knudsen assumed the CEO position at the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, created by Sean Parker, the first Facebook president and the technological entrepreneur behind innovative ideas such as Napster, where a new commercial model of philanthropy sales layers that aligns with the interest of the whole life of Knudsen in the discovery is being built.
Sean Parker Institute for Cancer immunotherapy
The mission has not changed: “In the United States, we have 2.1 million Americans who will obtain a new cancer diagnosis this year, and unfortunately, more than 600,000 people who will die of one of the 200 diseases that we call cancer,” he said.
Although there has been a 34% decrease in cancer mortality since 1991, mainly attributed to preventive health and preventive detection, Knudsen's new role places it at the forefront of efforts to finance a new generation of innovative cancer drugs.
Knudsen spoke with Bortstin of CNBC about how he reached this stage of his career, and the lessons he has learned from a lifetime dedicated to experimentation. Here are some outstanding aspects of the full video interview.
The scientific method and commercial thinking reinforce each other
As a scientist, Knudsen says: “You feel very comfortable with the generation and hypothesis tests”, and that is similar to a business executive who tries to discover what will come below in his market and how to remain successful as conditions change.
Scientists feel comfortable developing a set of successful metrics that allow them to know quickly whether it is time to give up a hypothesis or advance. Knudsen says that is part of the “superimposed mentality between being a scientist and being a business person”, which has helped her success as she went from research in executive leadership.
“He did the process of developing a set of success metrics and creating a commercial strategy that indicates when he can be in something, or not, quite easy,” he said.
Be bold when identifying what should and should not be doing
As a researcher within the health systems that they saw firsthand how a wave of consolidation could remodel the entities and raise the question of how each person, process and practice may need to change, Knudsen says that he must be ready to identify not only what works but also what he must disappear.
Entering CEO in ACS was “how to enter a new fusion that needed commercial transformation,” he said. “Finding opportunities and fixing what you need to repair is often the most difficult part of leadership,” he added.
Knudsen took a look at a bureaucracy that for more than a century had become 12 separate organizations, with 12 CEO and 12 strategies, and made significant changes to optimize the operation. However, it was not about the inefficiencies. “I was on the road 49 weeks of the year for four years in a row, because you really needed to be there to see what was so good in these various areas and apply that to the rest of the organization,” Knudsen said.
Her biggest point is that a lifetime in the investigation has made her a leader who sees change as a constant. “Because medicine is changing, science is changing, technology will change … it is well transformed and constantly,” he said.
Work with people who are not afraid to “fail fast” and finance them if they can
Sean Parker and Karen Knudsen
Parker Institute for Cancer immunotherapy
Sean Parker leaves the world of Silicon Valley “Move Fast and Break Things”, and Knudsen says he had learned to be “a little safer to assume risks” over the years.
Working with Parker, who was the first president of Facebook and co -founder of Napster, is the culmination of the commercial side of his mentality.
“He is not afraid to think differently,” Knudsen said, adding that he still plays the idea that “if we are failing, let's fail fast.”
More specifically, he said that Parker identified that the lack of access to capital was a great impediment to progress in the fight against cancer, and that was delaying the plaintiffs of the lenders to do what they do best.
“All the philosophy of the Parker Institute is, the first step, to collect the best brains. Give them investments in funds to do high -risk research, high gain and avant -garde, which could fail but could also drastically transform cancer therapy,” he said.
Founded in 2016 by Parker to convert all cancers into “Curable Diseases”, the Institute supports clinical tests, initiation and incubation formation, and the marketing of medicines. In total, Pici has supported the work of 1,000 researchers and helped create a venture capital portfolio of $ 4 billion that includes 17 biotechnological companies.
“I think it's because we have diminished science from the beginning,” Knudsen said. “We are not waiting for someone to present him. So I feel very optimistic about the ability to start this wheel,” he said.
Create a list of colleagues and mentors 'hot dial'
Knudsen has had many mentors throughout his trip. One who cited was Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, who, according to her, was a “source of knowledge” for her. But as CEO of the American Cancer Society, it was surrounded “with CEO from all areas of life. He had a CEO advice that was a hot sphere,” Knudsen said. “There are some things you really need to talk to other CEO.”
He also emphasized that women who pursue success in all fields should expect to have to fight even harder for female representation the higher they ascend through a professional staircase. Statistically, that is the case, either in the commercial or academic world. More than 50% of the MD and Doctorate programs are full of women, but only 12% become full teachers, department presidents or deans. In the business world, 10% of women occupy CEO positions in S&P 500 companies; and approximately 12% in companies backed by VC and 13% in medical care companies.
But if it is related to gender, the inherent risk of failure in scientific efforts or the lack of access to capital, Knudsen's constant mission has helped overcome any barrier.
“What I always wanted to do, either as a scientist, either as a health executive, CEO of the American Cancer Society or now the Parker Institute is to obtain innovation to people,” he said. “We are at this time that there is so much discovery that is happening, the rhythm of change is really logarithmic and, nevertheless, many great ideas never come out of the laboratory floor.”
Look at Full Changemakers Spotlight above for Knudsen's ideas in the field of drug discovery and the fight against cancer.
