Challenging Cancer

The following story originally appeared in the Spring 2018 edition of Baylor Magazine. Click here for the complete story.

Dr. Kevin Pinney, professor of chemistry in the Baylor College of Arts and Sciences, is working to solve the mysteries of cancer, a task he says is “daunting” and “extremely exciting.” He is considered an expert on the discovery of small molecules and vascular disrupting agents that inhibit growth and replication of cancer cells.

“Cancer, unfortunately, is clever. It’s smart, and it’s a formidable enemy,” Pinney says. “My laboratory is interested in wiping out cancer cells and tumors. We’re interested in new therapeutic agents that go after cancer specifically and selectively.”

It is estimated that approximately 38.5 percent of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetimes. More than 15 million Americans at this time are living beyond a cancer diagnosis, and that number is projected to eclipse 19 million by 2024. Cancer is expected to surpass heart disease in a few years as the nation’s leading cause of death. Pinney and other Baylor researchers hope to contribute to cancer treatment and prevention.

“If you look at many of the stories of new drugs that have been developed, their early roots came from university settings, from graduate and undergraduate students, post-docs, faculty members, working collaboratively, coming up with leads and having those developed,” Pinney says.

Students often bring fresh ideas and perspectives to faculty members. Pinney relies on students to take ownership of projects, drive them in new directions and enhance lines of thinking already underway. The learning process expands beyond a lecture format and takes shape as an intellectual puzzle, trying to figure out answers, seeking solutions and furthering lines of inquiry, with the goal of making a positive difference on a real-world problem. Baylor students are invited into the discovery process alongside their teachers and benefit from it in numerous ways.

Each semester, Pinney involves seven to 10 graduate students, five to 10 undergraduate students, and one to three postdoctoral research associates in his studies.

“I like to think of research as the purest form of teaching,” Pinney says. “Research is certainly not done in a vacuum in any sense. It’s a hugely collaborative effort.”