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

Contact Information

Phone Numbers

Appointment: (585) 275-5823

Administrative: (585) 275-4911

Office: (585) 275-5823

Fax: (585) 273-5761

A member of the University of Rochester Medical Faculty Group

An Accountable Health Partner

Accepting New Patients

Locations

Wilmot Cancer Institute Oncology
601 Elmwood Ave
Rochester, NY 14642-0001

Oncology: (585) 275-5823

Faculty Appointments

Professor - Department of Medicine , Hematology/Oncology (SMD)
Director - Cancer Center
Samuel E. Durand Chair in Medicine - Department of Medicine (SMD)

Patient Care Settings

Cancer, Hospital Medicine

Biography

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.

Credentials

Specialties

Hematology - American Board of Internal Medicine
Internal Medicine
Medical Oncology

Education

1994
MD | Children's Hospital Harvard Medical (USA)

Post-doctoral Training & Residency

07/01/1997 - 06/01/1999
Fellow in Hematology & Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

07/01/1995 - 06/01/1997
Resident in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital

07/01/1994 - 06/30/1995
Interim in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital

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Awards

2012
Faculty Academic Mentoring Award
Sponsor: University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Location: University of Rochester

2008 - 2008
Scholar in Clinical Research
Sponsor: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

2008 - 2008
America's Top Doctors Selection

2007 - 2007
Jacob Gitelman Award
Sponsor: Gilda's Club and Cancer Action
Location: Rochester, NY

2004 - 2006
Lawrence A. Kohn Senior Teaching Fellow
Sponsor: Institute of Medicine
Location: Outstanding Teaching Contributions, Department of Medicine, Univ

2003 - 2003
Clinical Investigator Career Development Award
Sponsor: Lymphoma Research Foundation

2001 - 2003
Clinical Oncology Research Fellowship " Immunotherapy of Hodgkin's Disease"
Sponsor: Berlex Oncology Foundation

2001 - 2003
Rising stars program for innovative research
Sponsor: Dunkin Donuts and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Department of Adu

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Clinical Trials

A Phase III, Randomized Study of Nivolumab (Opdivo) Plus AVD or Brentuximab Vedotin (ADCETRIS) Plus AVD in Patients (Age >/= 12 Years) With Newley Diagnosed Advanced Stage Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma (S1826),A Phase III, Randomized Study of Nivolumab (Opdivo) Plus AVD or Brentuximab Vedotin (ADCETRIS) Plus AVD in Patients (Age >/= 12 Years) With Newley Diagnosed Advanced Stage Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma (S1826)

Lead Researcher: Jonathan W Friedberg MD

This phase III trial compares immunotherapy drugs (nivolumab or brentuximab vedotin) when given with combination chemotherapy in treating patients with newly diagnosed stage III or IV classic Hodgkin lymphoma. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as nivolumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Brentuximab vedotin is a monoclonal antibody, brentuximab, linked to a toxic agent called vedotin. Brentuximab attaches to cancer cells in a targeted way and delivers vedotin to kill them. Chemotherapy drugs, such as doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. The addition of nivolumab or brentuximab vedotin to combination chemotherapy may shrink the cancer or extend the time without disease symptoms coming back.

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Publications

Journal Articles

6/2/2022
Campo E, Jaffe ES, Cook JR, Quintanilla-Martinez L, Swerdlow SH, Anderson KC, Brousset P, Cerroni L, de Leval L, Dirnhofer S, Dogan A, Feldman A, Fend F, Friedberg JW, Gaulard P, Ghia P, Horwitz SM, King RL, Salles GA, San-Miguel JF, Seymour JF, Treon SP, Vose J, Zucca E, Advani R, Ansell SM, Au WY, Barrionuevo C, Bergsagel PL, Chan WC, Cohen JI, Davies AJ, Falini B, Ghobrial IM, Goodlad JR, Gribben JG, Hsi ED, Kahl BS, Kim WS, Kumar SK, LaCasce AS, Laurent C, Lenz G, Leonard JP, Link MP, López-Guillermo A, Mateos MV, Macintyre EA, Melnick AM, Morschhauser F, Nakamura S, Narbaitz M, Pavlovsky A, Pileri SA, Piris MA, Pro B, Rajkumar SVV, Rosen ST, Sander B, Sehn LH, Shipp MA, Smith SM, Staudt LM, Thieblemont C, Tousseyn T, Wilson WH, Yoshino T, Zinzani PL, Dreyling M, Scott DW, Winter JN, Zelenetz AD. "The International Consensus Classification of Mature Lymphoid Neoplasms: A Report from the Clinical Advisory Committee." Blood.. 2022 Jun 2; Epub 2022 Jun 02.

4/14/2022
Miller KD, Friedberg JW. "Introducing Clinical Trial Updates." Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.. 2022 Apr 14; :JCO2200501. Epub 2022 Apr 14.

2/23/2022
Alderuccio JP, Arcaini L, Watkins MP, Beaven AW, Shouse G, Epperla N, Spina M, Stefanovic A, Sandoval-Sus J, Torka P, Alpert AB, Olszewski AJ, Kim SH, Hess B, Gaballa S, Ayyappan S, Castillo JJ, Argnani L, Voorhees TJ, Saba R, Chowdhury SM, Vargas F, Reis IM, Kwon D, Alexander JS, Zhao W, Edwards D, Martin P, Cencini E, Kamdar M, Link BK, Logothetis CN, Herrera AF, Friedberg JW, Kahl BS, Luminari S, Zinzani PL, Lossos IS. "An international analysis evaluating frontline bendamustine with rituximab in extranodal marginal zone lymphoma." Blood advances.. 2022 Feb 23; Epub 2022 Feb 23.

Books & Chapters

2008
Chapter Title: Lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin's lymphoma. Evidence-based Hematology
Book Title: Evidence-based Hematology
Author List: McMahon B, Friedberg JW
Published By: Evidence based Hematology 2008

2008
Chapter Title: Monoclonal antibodies in lymphoma: the first decade.
Book Title: Seminars in Hematology
Author List: Link BK and Friedberg JW
Published By: Seminars in Hematology 2008

2008
Chapter Title: Non-myeloablative radioimmunotherapy for lymphoma.
Book Title: Seminars in Hematology
Author List: Schaefer-Cutillo J., Friedberg JW
Published By: Seminars in Hematology 2008

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