Alison Friedmann, MD, M.SC is the Clinical Director of the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Unit at the Mass General Hospital for Children. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from University of California, Berkeley, and her medical degree from Dartmouth Medical School. She completed a pediatrics residency at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and her hematology/oncology fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Friedmann is board certified in both Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. She has cared for children with cancer and blood disorders for more than twenty years. As a faculty member at MGH since 1998, she has focused on clinical care, clinical research, and teaching. Dr. Friedmann leads the Pediatric Chemotherapy Safety Committee, serves as Quality and Safety Champion, and is a member of the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Pediatric Scientific Review Committee. She has published many scholarly articles and book chapters. Her primary research interests are in supportive care, soft tissue sarcoma, leukemia, and lymphoma. She was a national coordinator of a Children’s Oncology Group (COG) trial for standard risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and serves as the MGH principal investigator for COG. She has been recognized with awards for both her clinical excellence and compassionate care, including Alpha Omega Alpha, the Alma Hass Milham Award for Humane and Ethical Values, the MGH Cancer Center One Hundred Award, and “Top Doc” in Pediatrics by Boston Magazine. Dr. Friedmann has had a long-standing relationship with Camp Sunshine, a retreat for children and families with serious illnesses, serving as camp physician during their summer program for many years and on their medical board. A mother of three children herself, she is passionate about caring for young people and improving their outcomes and quality of life.
Clinical Interests:
Treats:
Mass General Brigham Healthcare Center
102-104 Endicott St.
Danvers, MA 01923
Phone: 978-882-6100
Mass General for Children: Pediatric Hematology & Oncology
55 Fruit St.
Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care
Suite 8B
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-726-2737
Medical Education
American Board Certifications
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Alison Friedmann, MD has authored and reviewed many scholarly articles and book chapters in the area of childhood cancer. Her major research interests include: 1) Supportive care: Using an extensive blood bank database, she examined the importance of various risk factors in predicting bleeding in patients with low platelet counts to guide decisions around the use of platelet transfusion. At MGH, she developed a study for pediatric oncology patients with fever and neutropenia, the most common reason for unplanned hospitalization. The study identified patients at low risk of serious complications and provided an option for early discharge to a home antibiotic regimen. This strategy proved to be safe and greatly preferred by families. Building on this work, she successfully implemented a new clinical pathway for the outpatient management of low-risk fever and neutropenia, improving quality of life and reducing hospital stays. 2) Hematologic Malignancies: As a member of the Children's Oncology Group ALL committee, she helped coordinate a nationwide clinical trial for standard risk ALL, AALL0331, a trial that produced excellent outcomes while reducing therapy for the most favorable patients. She has also been a member of the St. Jude Pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma consortium, publishing the results of a major clinical trial in intermediate risk patients, and completing a project looking at the outcome of patients who suffer a relapse to focus on rational, optimal surveillance after treatment. 3) Radiation, sarcomas, and late effects: She has partnered with radiation oncology to study proton beam therapy's role in reducing late effects of therapy without compromising cure, and to develop strategies to reduce radiation exposure.
Alison Friedmann, MD has authored and reviewed many scholarly articles and book chapters in the area of childhood cancer. Here is a sampling of her publications. The extensive list can be found on PubMed.
Friedmann, AM, Weinstein HJ. The role of prognostic features in the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Oncologist. 2000;5(4):321-8.
Friedmann, AM, Weinstein HJ. The evolving standard of care for Hodgkin lymphoma. Journal of Pediatric Hematology Oncology. 2008; 30(2):121-3.
Friedmann, AM, Mariani J, Rupon JW, Talcott JA, Abrams AN, Weinstein HJ. Pilot test of a decision rule and implementation of an outpatient management strategy for low risk pediatric fever and neutropenia. In: Proceedings of the American Society of Hematology/Oncology Annual Meeting; 2015.
Friedmann, AM, Wolfson, JA, Hudson, MM, Weinstein HJ, Link MP, Billet A, Larse EC, Yock T, Donaldson SS, Marcus K, Krasin MJ, Howard SC, Metzger ML. Relapse after treatment of pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma: outcome and role of surveillance after end of therapy. Pediatric Blood Cancer. 2013; 60(9):1458-63.
Ladra MM, Szymonifka J, Mahajan A, Friedmann AM, Yeap BY, Goebel CP, MacDonlad SM, Grosshans D, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Marcus KH, Tarbell NJ, Yock TI. Preliminary Results of a Phase II Trial of Proton Radiotherapy for Pediatric Rhabdomyosarcoma. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2014; 32:3762-3770.
