Dr. James McKiernan

James McKiernan, MD, is the John K. Lattimer Professor of Urology, and CEO, of ColumbiaDoctors. He also is the interim dean of Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.


Dr. McKiernan graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a BA in biology and received his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed his training in urology and general surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, followed by a urologic surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. McKiernan's clinical practice is focused on urologic oncology and particularly on surgical therapy in high-risk patients with bladder and kidney cancers. Dr. McKiernan evaluates and treats over 1,000 patients with bladder cancer every year. His research, funded by NIH and biotechnology industry grants, focuses on developing novel therapeutics for bladder cancer treatment as well as comparative effectiveness research in urologic oncology. In the management of kidney and bladder cancer, he has special expertise in organ preservation and reconstructive surgery to maximize quality of life. Dr. McKiernan's research has been published in Cancer, Cancer Research, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, JAMA Oncology, Journal of Urology, Urologic Oncology, and Urology. He has authored and co-authored more than 220 scientific articles and book chapters on urologic cancer and related issues.


For the past 10 years, he has directed a research team at Columbia University Medical Center investigating quality outcomes and effectiveness in urologic cancer surgery. He has served as the Vice Chairman for the AJCC TNM Staging Task Force, Co-Chair of the AUA Guidelines Panel on non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, as well as on the American Board of Urology and Society of Urologic Oncology Examination Committees. In addition, Dr. McKiernan is the principal investigator of the NIH-funded clinical trials program of experimental therapeutics in bladder cancer at Columbia University/NYPH, which is investigating new agents for bladder preservation in patients whose cancer has recurred after standard therapy. In collaboration with researchers at Columbia's Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, his team continues to develop new therapeutic strategies for managing bladder cancer.