Jonathan W. Friedberg, M.D., M.M.Sc.

As Director of the Wilmot Cancer Institute, I seek to provide the highest level of compassionate care for patients, ensuring access to novel treatments and clinical trials whenever possible. My background brings the entire continuum of lymphoma experience to patients, from diagnosis through all treatments including autologous stem cell transplantation, CAR-T cell interventions, novel agents, and survivorship.

We have built an incredibly strong team in Rochester to care for patients with lymphoma that is absolutely first rate and internationally recognized. We have expertise in hematopathology, radiation oncology, dermatology, and neurology, in addition to hematology and medical oncology. Driving this team toward excellence – and seeing our success – is highly rewarding.

Lymphoma is a complex set of diseases that can affect any organ system and I was drawn to that challenge. Our understanding of blood cancers in general, and specifically lymphoma, has enabled us to cure a subset of patients – and that also attracted me to this specialty. Happily, this fraction of cured patients has substantially increased during my 20-plus years in this field. Since lymphoma can affect anyone – males, females, young patients, older patients, and all ethnicities – I am rewarded by the interaction with a variety of patients.

My practice team includes Anna Morrison, R.N., Kerri Hugelmaier, N.P.

Conditions I Treat:

- Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
- Hodgkin lymphoma
- Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Professional Background

Jonathan W. Friedberg, M.D., is Director of the James P. Wilmot Cancer Institute Director of Hematological Malignancies Clinical Research, and the Samuel Durand Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He is a driving force behind the operations of Wilmot’s clinical and research programs, leading a team of associate directors who help make decisions surrounding Wilmot’s clinical, research, education, and community outreach missions.

Dr. Friedberg serves as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), the flagship journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). He began this five-year term in June 2021. Prior to his editor-in-chief role, he served as associated editor of JCO. He has also served as a reviewer and on editorial boards for a number of medical journals.

Friedberg is a chair of the lymphoma committee in the SWOG group of the NCI National Clinical Trials Network and is an independently R01-funded investigator in the field of lymphoid malignancies.

Dr. Friedberg received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. His postgraduate training included an internship and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. He also completed a medical oncology and hematology fellowship at Dana-Farber/Partners Cancer Care in Boston. Dr. Friedberg also has an M.M.Sc. degree from Harvard Medical School in clinical investigation. He holds subspecialty certification in Medical Oncology and Hematology.

His research interests focus on development of novel therapies for patients with lymphoma. He formerly received a Scholar in Clinical Research award from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, based upon his work with an oral inhibitor of a protein called Syk, which demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of several different forms of lymphoma. He is currently funded as PI of the ILyAD trial, evaluating patients with follicular lymphoma receiving rituximab with a vitamin D intervention. As chair of SWOG, he is co-leader of the current North American intergroup effort in advanced stage Hodgkin lymphoma. He is also a founding member of the Lymphoma Epidemiology of Outcomes Consortium.