Rate My Professor Jo Freudenheim

Jo Freudenheim, PhD, is a SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs in the School of Public Health and Health Professions at the University at Buffalo. She earned her PhD and MS in nutritional sciences, as well as an MS in preventive medicine (epidemiology), from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1986, an MS in nutritional sciences from the same institution in 1984, registered dietitian certification from Lutheran General Hospital in 1977, and a BS in human nutrition, magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in 1975. After postdoctoral training in cancer epidemiology at the University at Buffalo, she joined the faculty in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health. She served as chair of the department from 2006 to 2013 and interim chair in 2014. Freudenheim is also an adjunct professor of oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and an affiliated scientist at the Research Institute on Addictions.

Her research focuses on cancer epidemiology, particularly breast cancer epidemiology and prognosis, examining breast tumor characteristics, factors related to disparities in breast cancer among Puerto Rican women through the Atabey study, the role of nutrition and alcohol exposures over the life course and breast cancer risk in the WEB study, the microbiome's role in cancer risk, and the impact of reducing alcohol consumption on cancer risk and mortality. She has authored over 275 peer-reviewed publications, including 'The IARC perspective on alcohol reduction or cessation and cancer risk' (New England Journal of Medicine, 2023), 'Periodontal disease and breast cancer: Prospective cohort study of postmenopausal women' (Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, 2016), 'Premenopausal breast cancer risk and intake of vegetables, fruits and related nutrients' (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 1996), and 'Cigarette smoking, N-acetyltransferase genetic polymorphisms and breast cancer risk' (JAMA, 1996). Freudenheim's work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health for over 25 years. Notable honors include Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition (2023), Abraham Lilienfeld Award from the American Public Health Association (2020), SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship (2005), and Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology (1997). She chaired the International Agency for Research on Cancer Handbook working group on alcohol reduction (2022-2023) and served on the National Academies committee reviewing evidence on alcohol and health (2024-2025).