Dr. Hershman is an American Cancer Society Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and is the Director of Breast Oncology and co-leader of the Cancer Population Science program at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University. She completed her medical degree at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and completed her internal medicine and oncology fellowship training at Columbia University Medical Center, where she served as Chief Resident. During that time she completed a Master's degree in Biostatistics at the Mailman School of Public Health. She has developed nationally recognized expertise in breast cancer treatment, prevention, and survivorship.

Dr. Hershman has also developed a comprehensive multidisciplinary program to study ways of improving cancer care delivery (CCD), reducing disparities and designing studies to improve the quality of life and quality of care in breast cancer survivors. She has received funding from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Cancer Society, Department of Defense, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, PCORI, and the National Cancer Institute.

She currently has mentored numerous faculty members who have been granted mentored career development awards, and has received the Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award and the CUIMC Mentor of the Year Award. Dr. Hershman has published over 450 scientific articles and has received several awards including the highly prestigious Advanced Clinical Research Award in Breast Cancer from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Advanced Medical Achievement Award from the Avon Foundation and a Giants in Cancer Care Award.

She has several national leadership roles in oncology. As vice chair of the SWOG Cancer Research Network she oversees the NCI's Community Oncology Research Programs (NCORP) research portfolio, which includes prevention and epidemiology, cancer care delivery, symptom control and quality of life, and survivorship trials. Within ASCO she was selected to participate in the first Leadership Development Program and has been the Chair of the Grants Selection Committee, Chair of the ASCO Quality Care Symposium and has been a member of multiple committees and task-forces. She is on the editorial board for the Journal of Clinical Oncology and is an Associate Editor at the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.