“My job is to help discover the next generation of therapeutics that will help treat millions of patients dealing with obesity.” For Kevin Grove, an academic research scientist turned industry leader on obesity, discovery is all about collaboration. “Without diverse perspectives,” he says, “it’s really impossible to make the disruptive and groundbreaking discoveries that change the paradigm within the industry.”
Kevin has struggled with weight his whole life, and he comes from a family that is painfully aware of the challenges of obesity. “Obesity is a disease that you can’t hide,” he says. “We cannot begin to treat this disease without treating the other aspects of it.”
Kevin stresses that obesity affects everyone differently, though. “It impacts all races differently, it impacts women differently than men and it impacts young people differently than elderly. To try to develop treatments that meet all of those needs is really complex.” Kevin says it often surprises people to learn how nuanced and difficult the process of obesity research can be, given the complex effects of the condition. That’s part of what keeps him so committed. “We have to be able to predict these factors and build treatments that will address all of them.”
Kevin calls the future of medicine “awe-inspiring.” He often lectures at universities, speaking to young scientists about the rewarding nature of biomedical research; he remains confident that there are still breakthroughs yet to come in the fight against obesity. “The advancements are coming faster and faster all the time. Five years ago, some of the treatments we have today were unimaginable,” says Kevin. “As those advancements come, collaboration and competition are critical. When people are willing to roll-up their sleeves and take on these challenges, that’s when we’ll see real advances.”
