A Columbia Oncologist’s 26.2-Mile Dedication to Her Field
Sunday, November 2, 2025, marks the 54th running of the TCS New York City Marathon. For Julia McGuinness, MD, an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology & Oncology at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the race has special meaning.
Running with Team Susan G. Komen for the second year in a row, Dr. McGuinness wants to celebrate the organization’s role as an important source of her breast cancer research funding and as a community for individuals passionate about breast cancer research.
“Komen’s grant support has opened so many opportunities for me as a young woman starting my academic career, not only by funding my research, but also by connecting me to a larger community of researchers and patient advocates,” Dr. McGuinness says.
Using AI to combat breast cancer
Dr. McGuinness’s research involves evaluating innovative computer science tools that can scan a patient’s mammogram and either help predict her risk of developing breast cancer or help determine how well a breast cancer therapy is working; it entails training these tools on mammograms from tens of thousands of women across New York City and then testing the accuracy of their predictions.
The research combines Dr. McGuinness’s medical oncology expertise with the computer science expertise of Despina Kontos, PhD, the Herbert and Florence Irving Professor of Radiological Sciences at VP&S. "Dr. Kontos has been a close collaborator," said Dr. McGuinness. "Together, we’re focused on finding imaging-based biomarkers that can lead to better breast cancer outcomes.”
And there’s no time to waste. “I've recently had several young patients around my age diagnosed with advanced breast cancers, and that really highlights the fact that no one is too young to get cancer,” says Dr. McGuinness. “We need to do more to identify women of all ages who are at risk, for whom we might be able to intervene earlier to either prevent cancer or detect it at an early, highly treatable stage.”
Honoring her aunt
Dr. McGuinness is also dedicating her marathon to her late aunt, who lived for more than ten years with metastatic ovarian cancer and passed away this year. “That shows how far our cancer treatments have come,” she says. “But it’s still never enough time. We must continue to move the needle with our research.”
Finally, Dr. McGuinness values the determination the race demands: “Marathon training and running for me is an exercise in persistence and resilience—something anyone working in cancer care and research needs, especially in an uncertain funding environment,” she says. “When I find myself wanting to give up, I often think of my patients and what they’ve endured. That keeps me going.”
Julia McGuinness, MD, is an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology & Oncology at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.