From engineering pacemakers to writing code that supports pediatric research, Brandon Cunnane’s journey highlights how technology can improve lives. As an Analytics Developer at Columbia University Medical Center, Brandon helps transform mountains of hospital data into research-ready insights, bridging the gap between patient care and medical discovery.
A Career Fueled by Curiosity and Purpose
Brandon’s career began in medical technology, where he first engineered pacemakers and later developed software for the pharmaceutical industry. But when he was offered the chance to work in medical research, he thought it would be an interesting next step in his career.
He began working in Columbia’s Pediatrics Department, where he now uses his coding skills to support research projects focused on improving health outcomes for children. “I was excited to work on projects that could help doctors treat patients more effectively," Brandon explains.
Transforming Healthcare Research with Code
Columbia University Medical Center, one of the leading academic hospitals in the U.S., is home to cutting-edge research across a wide range of disciplines. Within its Pediatrics Department, Brandon helps process and analyze large amounts of patient data, which is essential for medical research. In a typical clinical setting, patient information is handled one case at a time by doctors and nurses. For research, however, that model doesn’t scale.
“Thousands of patient histories must be analyzed all at once. Manually reviewing the charts of so many patients is too difficult and time consuming.” That’s where his coding skills come in. By writing SQL queries and leveraging Python for data processing, Brandon helps automate what would otherwise be a monumental manual effort.
Why Computer Science Matters for Everyone
For students considering a path in computer science—or even those just exploring—Brandon offers a clear perspective: coding is a core literacy of the modern world. He explains that having a background in computing helps you recognize opportunities to apply those skills in ways you might not have otherwise noticed.
Brandon’s work is a powerful reminder that coding can be a force for good—not just in tech companies, but also in research labs and hospitals. His story highlights how programming skills, when paired with a passion for helping others, can make a real-world impact on public health.
Whether you're building the next app or enabling life-saving research, computer science opens doors to careers that improve lives in unexpected and meaningful ways.
