About

Michael J. Friedlander, PhD, is the Vice President for Health Sciences and Technology at Virginia Tech. He is a neuroscientist who also serves as the executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, senior dean for research at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, and a professor of biological sciences and biomedical engineering and sciences at Virginia Tech. Friedlander joined Virginia Tech in 2010 after serving five years at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where he was the Robertson Professor of Neuroscience, chairman of the Department of Neuroscience, and director of neuroscience initiatives. Prior to that, he spent 25 years at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, where he held multiple roles including professor and founding chair of the Department of Neurobiology, founding director of the Neurobiology Research Center, and director of several research centers focused on intellectual disabilities and aging. His research programs on brain development and response to experience have been continuously supported by the National Institutes of Health for 30 years.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Medicine
• Nursing
• Pathology
• Internal medicine
• Business
• Family medicine
• Environmental health
• Virology
• Demography
• Biology

Selected publications

• Parity and lactation induce T-cell-mediated breast cancer protection

  Nature · 2025-10-20 · 10 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• EXERCISE THERAPY ADDED TO FIRST-LINE CHEMOTHERAPY FOR OVARIAN CANCER: EFFECTS ON PROGRESSION-FREE SURVIVAL AND PHYSICAL WELLBEING IN THE RANDOMISED, PHASE 3 ECHO TRIAL (ANZGOG1304/CTC121)

  International Journal of Gynecological Cancer · 2025-11-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Evaluating patient perspectives about the acceptability of a novel prognostic gene expression signature for high grade serous ovarian cancer: The OTTA-SPOT study

  Gynecologic Oncology · 2025-12-05

  articleOpen access

  OBJECTIVE: The Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis consortium - Stratified Prognosis of Ovarian Tumors (OTTA-SPOT) 101 gene expression signature, predicts 5-year survival on a tumor biopsy at diagnosis and identifies the 20 % of patients with a 10 % probability of 5-year survival with standard of care therapy, who may benefit from alternate treatments. This study aims to understand how patients with ovarian cancer perceive the potential advantages and disadvantages of OTTA-SPOT, their willingness for the test, and preferred methods of receiving test results. METHODS: Participants were eligible if they had a diagnosis of ovarian cancer and resided in Australia or New Zealand. Participants completed a mixed-methods questionnaire, co-designed with consumers, which investigated their perspectives about prognostic tests for ovarian cancer. Participants could opt-in to a 1-1.5-h online focus group to discuss their perspectives further. RESULTS: Thirty-three participants completed the online questionnaire. Participants perceived the potential advantages of the prognostic test outweighed the disadvantages, and 88 % would be 'very willing' or 'willing' to undergo prognostic testing if available. Nine participants took part in focus groups. We developed four themes from thematic analysis of these discussions: (1) Cancer journey and context, (2) Advantages and disadvantages of knowing prognosis, (3) The complexities of when to receive prognostic information, and (4) Communication and service delivery. CONCLUSION: Participants with ovarian cancer viewed prognostic testing positively. However, successful implementation will require a patient-centred approach that accommodates diverse preferences around how the test is introduced, and results are communicated.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Evaluating Patient Perspectives about the Acceptability of a Novel Prognostic Gene Expression Signature for High Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer The OTTA-SPOT study

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• PARP Inhibitor Maintenance After First-Line Chemotherapy in Advanced-Stage Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

  JAMA Network Open · 2025-11-05 · 10 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Importance: First-line maintenance therapy with poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARP inhibitors) after platinum-based chemotherapy improves progression-free survival (PFS) in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), particularly in patients with BRCA-variant or homologous recombination-deficient tumors. However, overall survival (OS) benefits remain uncertain, and toxic effect profiles emphasize the need for optimized patient and agent selection. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of first-line PARP inhibitor maintenance therapy compared with chemotherapy alone in advanced-stage EOC, with subgroup analyses by BRCA and HRD status, up-front or interval surgery, chemotherapy response, and residual disease. Data sources: Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched from database inception to August 19, 2024. Study Selection: Randomized clinical trials and prospective 2-arm studies evaluating PARP inhibitor maintenance therapy in patients with advanced-stage EOC responding to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy were included. Data Extraction and Synthesis: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) reporting guideline was followed in reporting this study. Data were independently extracted by 2 reviewers. Random-effects models were used for meta-analysis. Risk of bias was assessed with Cochrane risk of bias and certainty of evidence with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) framework. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes were PFS and OS; secondary outcomes included high-grade adverse events. Results: A total of 7 randomized clinical trials with 4013 patients with advanced-stage epithelial ovarian cancer responding to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy were included. PARP inhibitor maintenance was associated with improved PFS in the overall population (hazard ratio [HR], 0.57; 95% CI, 0.46-0.70; high certainty) and in all molecular subgroups except the homologous recombination proficient group (BRCA variant: HR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.35-0.45; BRCA wild type: HR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44-0.86; homologous recombination deficient: HR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.39-0.50; all high certainty). PFS benefits were consistent across surgical timing, chemotherapy responses, and residual disease; for example, surgical timing had HRs of 0.51 (95% CI, 0.31-0.84) for neoadjuvant chemotherapy and 0.54 (95% CI, 0.36-0.81) for primary cytoreductive surgery (all high certainty). No molecular subgroup showed a statistically significant OS improvement (high to low certainty). High-grade adverse events were more common in the PARP inhibitor group (HR, 2.40; 95% CI, 1.16-4.93; high certainty). Observed treatment efficacy and toxic effects varied across PARP inhibitor regimens; for example, the risk ratio for any recurrence or death in the overall study group ranged from 0.53 (95% CI, 0.40-0.70) for senaparib to 0.83 (95% CI, 0.68-1.00) for olaparib, while the risk ratio for high-grade adverse events ranged from 1.15 (95% CI, 0.64-2.06) for veliparib to 4.73 (95% CI, 2.77-8.07) for niraparib. Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, no subgroup showed an association between first-line PARP inhibitor maintenance therapy in advanced-stage EOC and improved OS, and findings suggest that the consistency of associated PFS benefits may vary, particularly in homologous recombination proficient and BRCA wild type tumors. Variability in efficacy and toxic effects across subgroups and PARP inhibitor regimens underscores the importance of individualized treatment decisions.

  PublisherDOI

• Mini review: The genus Porphyra sensu lato (Bangiales, Rhodophyta), its pests and defence

  Aquaculture International · 2025-02-07 · 2 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Efficacy And Safety Of PARP Inhibitor Maintenance In Platinum-Sensitive Advanced-Stage Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis

  International Journal of Gynecological Cancer · 2025-02-01

  reviewOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Veliparib concomitant with first-line chemotherapy and as maintenance therapy in ovarian cancer: Final overall survival and disease-related symptoms results

  European Journal of Cancer · 2025-06-17 · 4 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Adverse events in the placebo arm of SOLO2/ENGOT-Ov21 maintenance trial of olaparib in recurrent ovarian cancer

  Gynecologic Oncology · 2024-11-12 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: In women with platinum sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer (PSROC) undergoing maintenance treatment, adverse events (AEs) not attributable to the current treatment are not well understood. We used data from SOLO2/ENGOT-Ov21 to evaluate AEs reported in the placebo arm and to explore their longitudinal trajectories. METHODS: SOLO2/ENGOT-Ov21 (NCT01874353) randomly assigned 295 PSROC participants with a BRCA1/2 mutation to maintenance olaparib tablets (N = 196) or matching placebo (N = 99). For those assigned to placebo, we analyzed the AE (CTCAE v4.0) data including type, grade, time of onset and resolution, and attribution by investigator. RESULTS: Amongst 99 participants who received placebo 788 AEs were reported (95 % reporting ≥1 AE). Twenty-two percent of participants reported at least one grade ≥ 3 AE. Grade ≥ 2 AEs that persisted for over 100 days affected 21 % of participants. Recurring grade ≥ 1 AEs were experienced by 44 % of participants. Study investigators attributed 25 % of all AEs to the placebo treatment, with neutropenia (88 %), nausea (52 %) and thrombocytopenia (50 %) most attributed. Three percent of participants had a dose reduction, 19 % had treatment delays, and 2 % had permanent treatment discontinuation, due to AEs attributed to placebo. CONCLUSION: Virtually all PSROC participants in the SOLO2/ENGOT-Ov21 experienced one or more AE whilst on placebo. Furthermore, study investigators attributed one quarter of AEs to be related to placebo therapy and dose alterations and treatment changes were made based on these AE. Further work is needed to improve measurement and categorization of AEs in trials of maintenance therapy in PSROC.

  PublisherDOI

• Mini review: The genus Gracilaria, its pests and defense

  Journal of Applied Phycology · 2024-12-03 · 1 citations

  article1st author
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant P01HD038760

  NIH · $6.7M · 2005

• NIH Grant P50HD032901

  NIH · $5.3M · 2000

• NIH Grant R01EY012782

  NIH · $2.8M · 2012

• Mentorship and Development Program for Biomedical Trainees

  NIH · $1.8M · 2013–2020

Frequent coauthors

• Audra Van Wart

  20 shared

• Richard M. Schwartzstein

  Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

  20 shared

• Carla V. Finkielstein

  Biomedical Research Institute

  17 shared

• Carol A. Aschenbrener

  16 shared

• Avi Rosenstrauch

  Achva Academic College

  15 shared

• Alessandro Ceci

  Biomedical Research Institute

  15 shared

• Iskander I. Ismailov

  Biomedical Research Institute

  13 shared

• D Kalikulov

  Biomedical Research Institute

  13 shared

Labs

• LeadershipPI