Kristiyana Kaneva's Journey of Humility, Courage, and Mentorship in Healthcare

Kristiyana Kaneva, a pediatric oncologist, discusses her career transition from Tempest AI to AbbVie, focusing on oncology drug development. She highlights her new role as a medical director, emphasizing collaboration and skill diversification. Dr. Kaneva attributes her growth at Tempest to hard work and teamwork, and advises clinicians transitioning to Pharma to network and leverage their skills. She stresses the importance of humility and strategic leadership in healthcare. Mentorship has been pivotal in her career, with influential figures guiding her from high school to her current role. Christiana's leadership mantra is embracing a non-linear career path for continuous skill development.

 

Transcript:

Dr. Corriel:
Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode! Today, we’re featuring an article from our magazine spotlighting Dr. Kristiyana Kaneva and her journey of humility, courage, and mentorship in healthcare. I’m excited to dive right in—Dr. Kaneva is here with me. Welcome! To start, can you tell our audience a bit more about yourself?

Dr. Kaneva:
Thank you so much, Dr. Corriel, for inviting me to your podcast. My name is Kristiyana Kaneva, and I’m a pediatric oncologist by training. For the past five years, I’ve been working in the healthcare industry outside of clinical medicine. I was most recently at Tempus AI, a data and diagnostics company focused on molecular diagnostics for cancer. I worked on developing new diagnostics for oncology patients and recently transitioned into the pharmaceutical industry, where I now focus on the clinical development of oncology drugs.

Dr. Corriel:
Wonderful—congratulations! We featured your interview in our magazine's leadership section, especially timely given our recent Women in Healthcare Leadership Conference. With that in mind, many of our questions today will focus on leadership. First up: you recently moved from Tempus to AbbVie. What inspired this change, and how did you know it was the right time?

Dr. Kaneva:
Great question. It wasn’t an easy decision—it took a lot of thought. I realized I wanted to learn more about drug development, and it felt like a “now or never” moment in terms of my career. I wanted to diversify my skill set. I’m very comfortable in molecular diagnostics, but diagnostics are only part of the puzzle—you need drugs to actually treat patients. So while it was a big change in workflow and environment, I’ve been happy with the transition.

Dr. Corriel:
You're now serving as a Medical Director in early oncology development at AbbVie. What does a typical day look like for you, and how do you plan to make an impact?

Dr. Kaneva:
I’m still settling in—I’ve been with AbbVie for just over a month—but my days are collaborative. I work with a fantastic, multidisciplinary team focused on early drug development. It’s a hybrid role, so I work from home on Mondays and Fridays—like today—and I'm in the office the rest of the week. My goal is to contribute meaningfully to AbbVie’s mission and make a positive impact in oncology.

Dr. Corriel:
You mentioned being promoted twice at Tempus. What do you think contributed most to that growth?

Dr. Kaneva:
Hard work, definit

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