Jeffrey M. Friedman

Jeffrey M. Friedman
Jeffrey M. Friedman
Born	(1954-07-20) July 20, 1954 (age 62) Orlando, Florida, USA
Nationality	USA
Fields	molecular geneticist
Institutions	Rockefeller University
Alma mater	Rockefeller University
Known for	discovery of the hormone leptin and its role in regulating body weight
Notable awards	Shaw Prize (2009) Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (2010) BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2012)

Jeffrey Friedman, MD, PhD (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. Friedman is a physician scientist studying the genetic mechanisms that regulate body weight. His research on various aspects of obesity received national attention in late 1994, when it was announced that he and his colleagues had isolated the mouse ob gene and its human homologue. They subsequently found that injections of the encoded protein, leptin, decreases body weight of mice by reducing food intake and increasing energy expenditure. Current research is aimed at understanding the genetic basis of obesity in human and the mechanisms by which leptin transmits its weight-reducing signal.

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. 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 Jane 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, where he was awarded a Ph.D. degree in 1986. He was appointed Assistant Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at The Rockefeller University in 1986, promoted to Associate Investigator in 1991, and Investigator in 1996 and received the Marilyn M. Simpson professorship in 1998. 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. From 1980 to 1981, he also served as a postgraduate fellow at Cornell University Medical College. He now lives in New York City with his wife, Lily, and his two daughters: Alexandra and Nathalie.