Dr Kanawati was born in Sydney and obtained his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery at the University of New South Wales. He graduated with Honours in 2006. During his advanced training in Orthopaedic Surgery, he completed a Master of Applied Anatomy by Dissection at the University of New England.

Over two consecutive years, he won the Allan Frederick Dwyer Prize for Best Scientific Paper at the Australian Orthopaedic Registrars Association Annual Scientific Meeting for his research in sciatic nerve and femoral artery anatomy in the setting of joint replacement and trauma. Dr Kanawati published over a dozen peer-reviewed studies in leading Orthopaedic journals during his training. He was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2017.

Dr Kanawati spent the next two years undertaking a Fellowship in Spine Surgery at Victoria Hospital in London, Canada, where he acquired advanced skills, including microsurgery and navigation-assisted surgery. During his time in Canada, he completed a Master of Surgery at Western University, specialising in 3D printing and 3D printed patient-specific guides in spine surgery.