Dr. Friedenreich is a cancer epidemiologist and Adjunct Professor with the Departments of Oncology and Community Health Sciences in the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM), the University of Calgary (U of C). Dr. Friedenreich held continuous career awards from CIHR, AHFMR/Alberta Innovates between 1990-2017 and the Alberta Cancer Foundation’s Weekend to End Women’s Cancers Breast Cancer Chair from 2012-2017. Until 2024, she was the Scientific Director for the Department of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Research, Cancer Care Alberta, Alberta Health Services. She also held leadership positions in the O’Brien Institute of Public Health at U of C. Dr. Friedenreich was the Canadian representative and Chair of the Scientific Council for the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) (2018-21) and in 2021 was recognized with the Friend of IARC Distinction.
Dr. Friedenreich completed her doctorate in Epidemiology at the University of Toronto (1990) and postdoctoral training at IARC in Lyon, France and at the U of C (1990-94). In 2004-2005, she was the IARC Visiting Scientist. In 2013, she was a co-recipient of the Canadian Cancer Society’s (CCS) O. Harold Warwick Prize. Dr Friedenreich was named a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2016) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2019). In 2022, she was the first Canadian recipient of the Rosalind E. Franklin Award for Women in Science from the US National Cancer Institute. In 2023, she received the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Award (Alberta) and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Department of Oncology, CSM, U of C.
Dr. Friedenreich is the former Scientific Chair of the CCS Advisory Council on Research (ACOR), and, in 2025 received the King Charles III Coronation Medal from CCS for her exemplary service and leadership of the council. Dr. Friedenreich was elected to the CCS Board of Directors in July 2025. Dr. Friedenreich was further recognized in 2025 as the inaugural recipient of the Phillip E Branton Exceptional Leadership in Cancer Research Award from the Canadian Cancer Research Alliance.