Christopher R. Friese, Ph.D., RN, AOCN®
Dr. Friese is on sabbatical leave from September 1, 2023 through May 21, 2024.
University of Michigan School of Nursing
400 North Ingalls Building
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5482
In the news
June 21, 2023, Michigan Radio, "Michigan nurses 'heading for the exits' as staffing crisis continues."
April 11, 2023, WXYZ Detroit, "U-M survey finds 39% of nurses plan to leave their jobs within the next year."
January 18, 2023, New York Times, "Nurses are burned out an fed up, with good reason."
March 25, 2022, Detroit Free Press, “Exhausted and abused, nurses are searching for new jobs, or reasons to stay.”
September 23, 2020, Kaiser Health News, “Battle Rages Inside Hospitals Over How COVID Strikes and Kills.”
September 18, 2020, National Public Radio All Things Considered, “How Loss of Health Care Workers in Pandemic Affects Profession.”
April 7, 2020, The Hill, “Time to meaningfully invest in health care worker safety.”
January 24, 2017, Time, “Half of Women Have Serious Side Effects From Breast-Cancer Treatment."
July 8, 2015, Detroit Free Press, “How to avoid the next [Farid] Fata case.”
Interests
- Cancer
- Health Services Research
- Quality and Safety
- Nursing Work Environments
- Health Policy
Dr. Christopher R. Friese is a national authority in measuring and improving the quality of cancer care delivery. Over his career, he has led pivotal studies to develop and test strategies to improve outcomes of high-risk care. His research findings were among the first to establish a significant relationship between favorable nurse practice environments and lower surgical mortality. With over 120 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Friese’s research findings have informed clinical practice guidelines, and state and federal health policy. Dr. Friese spent 2016-2017 as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow in the United States Senate. Dr. Friese is a clinical expert in the nursing care of patients with hematological malignancies and advanced cancers. In 2021, the President appointed Dr. Friese to a six-year term on the National Cancer Advisory Board, which sets national cancer research policy.
Current Research Grants and Programs
- Making the right choice: Medicare plan selection and access to cancer care, 2022-2024 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Consultant
- University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center Support Grant, 2018-2023, National Cancer Institute, Co-I
- Interdisciplinary Research Training Center in Cancer Care Delivery, 2020-2025, National Cancer Institute, PI
Teaching
Dr. Friese focuses his teaching on action-oriented learning. Borrowing from Benjamin Franklin, he believes his students should learn the “most useful and most ornamental.” He has taught across the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs. He developed an interprofessional elective in Cancer Care and frequently teaches policy analysis, organizational theory, and systems assessment for health care. In recent years, Dr. Friese has focused his energies on mentoring the next generation of health care leaders and scientists, as the Program Director in Cancer Care Delivery Research Training at the University of Michigan.
Affiliations / Service
- Member, Oncology Nursing Society, 1995-Present (several service roles, 1999-present)
- Member, American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2000-present (several service roles, 2000-present)
- Member, AcademyHealth, 2005-Present
- Member, Patient Centered-Outcomes Research Board of Governors, 2018-2024
- Member, National Academy of Medicine Committee on the Use of Elastomeric Respirators in Health Care, 2017-2018
- Member, National Academy of Medicine Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine, 2017-2020 (Co-Chair, 2019-2020)
- Member, National Cancer Policy Forum, 2023-2026
- Member, National Cancer Advisory Board, 2021-2026
Notable Awards / Honors
- International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame, Sigma Theta Tau International, 2022
- Distinguished Researcher Award, Oncology Nursing Society, 2021
- Elected Member, National Academy of Medicine, 2020
- Research Mentorship Award, AcademyHealth Interdisciplinary Research Group on Nursing Issues, 2020
- Elizabeth Tone Hosmer Endowed Professorship (inaugural holder), 2017
- Henry Russel Award, University of Michigan, 2016
Education
- Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard University, Boston, MA, 2008
- Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2005
- BSN, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 1997
Publication Highlights
Medvec, B. R., Marriott, D. J., Khadr, L., Ridge, L. J., Lee, K. A., Friese, C. R., & Titler, M. G. (2023). Patterns and correlates of nurse departures from the health care workforce: Results from a statewide survey. Medical Care, 61(5), 321-327. https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0000000000001837.
Costa, D. K., & Friese, C. R. (2022). Policy strategies for addressing current threats to the U.S. nursing workforce. The New England Journal of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2202662.
Fauer, A., Wright, N., Lafferty, M., Harrod, M., Manojlovich, M., & Friese, C. R. (2021). Influences of Physical Layout and Space on Patient Safety and Communication in Ambulatory Oncology Practices: A Multisite, Mixed Method Investigation. HERD, 14(4), 270–286. https://doi.org/10.1177/19375867211027498.
Friese, C.R., Choueri, T.K., Duma, N., Farmakiotis, D., Grivas, P., Rini, B.I., Shah, D.P., Thompson, M.A., Pergam, S.A., Mishra, S., & Warner, J.L. 2021. Care without a compass: Including patients with cancer in COVID-19 studies. Cancer Cell, 39, 895-896, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2021.04.006.
Tubbs-Cooley, H., Lavin, R.P., Lyndon, A.,…& Friese, C.R. 2021. Stronger together: The case for multidisciplinary tenure track faculty in academic nursing. Nursing Outlook, 69, 531-533, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2021.03.016.
Davis, M.A., Cher, B., Friese, C.R., & Bynum, J.P.W. 2021. Association of U.S. nurse and physician occupation with risk of suicide. JAMA Psychiatry. 78, 1-8, https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.0154.
Fauer A., Choi S.W., Wallner L.P., Davis M.A., & Friese, C.R. 2021. Understanding quality and equity: Patient experiences with care in older adults diagnosed with hematologic malignancies. Cancer Causes & Control, 32, 379-389, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-021-01395-4.
Aebersold, M.L., Kraft, S., Farris, K.B., Mendelsohn-Victor, K., Scherdt, M., Olsen, M., Polovich, M., Shelton, B.K., Montgomery, G.H., & Friese, C.R. (2020). Evaluation of an interprofessional training program to improve cancer drug safety. Journal of Clinical Oncology: Oncology Practice. e1551-e1558, https://doi.org/10.1200/op.20.00816.
Fauer, A., Wallner, L. P., Davis, M. A., Choi, S. W., & Friese, C. R. (2020). Health care experiences for older adults diagnosed with leukemia and lymphoma: Factors associated with emergency department use, timeliness and access of health care. Journal of Geriatric Oncology, 12, 250-255, https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.13574.
Friese, C.R., Fauer, A.J., Kuissel, C., Mendelsohn-Victor, K., Wright, N.C., Griggs, J.J., Manojlovich, M. (2020). Patient-reported toxicity outcomes collected from a diverse sample of ambulatory oncology practices: Feasibility, patterns, and correlates. Health Services Research, 55, 966-972.
Mason, D.J., & Friese, C.R. 2020. Protecting health care workers against covid-19—and being prepared for future pandemics. JAMA Health Forum, doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2020.0353.
Friese, C. R., Veenema, T. G., Johnson, J. S., Jayaraman, S., Chang, J. C., & Clever, L. H. (2020). Respiratory Protection Considerations for Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Health security, 18, 237-240, https://doi.org/10.1089/hs.2020.0036.
Friese, C. R., Wong, M., Fauer, A., Mendelsohn-Victor, K., Polovich, M., & McCullagh, M. C. (2020). Hazardous Drug Exposure: Case Report Analysis From a Prospective, Multisite Study of Oncology Nurses' Exposure in Ambulatory Settings. Clinical journal of oncology nursing, 24, 249–255, https://doi.org/10.1188/20.CJON.249-255.
Lafferty, M., Manojlovich, M., Griggs, J. J., Wright, N., Harrod, M., & Friese, C. R. (2020). Clinicians Report Barriers and Facilitators to High-Quality Ambulatory Oncology Care. Cancer nursing, 44, E303-E310, https://doi.org/10.1097/NCC.0000000000000832.
Lafferty, M., Fauer, A., Wright, N., Manojlovich, M., & Friese, C.R. 2020. Causes and consequences of chemotherapy delays in ambulatory oncology practices: A multi-site qualitative study. Oncology Nursing Forum, 47, 417-427, https://doi.org/10.1188/20.onf.417-427.
