Jeffrey M. Friedman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Shaw Prize (2009)
- Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (2010)
- BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2012)
- Foreign Member of the Royal Society (2018)
- Wolf Prize in Medicine (2019)
- Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2020)
- Albany Medical Center Prize (2025)
Jeffrey Friedman | |
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 Jeffrey Friedman at the Royal Society admissions day in London, July 2018 | |
| Born | July 20, 1954 Orlando, Florida, US |
| Alma mater | Rockefeller University (PhD) |
| Known for | discovery of the hormone leptin and its role in regulating body weight |
| Awards |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Molecular genetics |
| Institutions | Rockefeller University |
| Thesis | Regulation of liver gene expression (1986) |
| Website | www |
Jeffrey M. Friedman (born July 20, 1954) is a molecular geneticist at New York City's Rockefeller University and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His discovery of the hormone leptin and its role in regulating body weight has had a major role in the area of human obesity.[1] Friedman is a physician scientist studying the genetic mechanisms that regulate body weight.
Friedman was born in Orlando, Florida on July 20, 1954, and grew up in North Woodmere, New York, graduating from Hewlett High School in the Class of 1971.[2] As a young man he aspired to becoming a physician. He entered a six-year medical program out of high school and received his M.D. at the age of 22. But after a year-long fellowship working in the laboratory of Mary Jeanne Kreek, he fell in love with the science life. "As a doctor, you're trained to absorb the facts you're given and accept them," says Friedman. "Science is almost the opposite. It's a frontier of discovery that's always moving. And I decided I wanted to do research." Friedman started his affiliation with the Rockefeller University in 1980,[3] where he was awarded a Ph.D. degree in 1986. Friedman received a BS from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1973 and M.D. degree from Albany Medical College in 1977 and completed a medical residency at Albany Medical College in 1980.[4] From 1980 to 1981, he also served as a postgraduate fellow at Cornell University Medical College.[5]
