SPHHP's Jo L. Freudenheim Elected as AAAS Fellow

Jo L. Freudenheim.

Published March 30, 2026

Jo L. Freudenheim, SUNY Distinguished Professor in SPHHP's Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, is one of five UB researchers who have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.

AAAS said that Freudenheim’s award marks her “distinguished contributions to the field of nutritional epidemiology, particularly for contributions relating to alcohol consumption and breast cancer epidemiology.”

Election as an AAAS Fellow is considered a prestigious, lifetime accomplishment in the scientific community. The honor is bestowed annually upon scientists, engineers and innovators who have been recognized for their achievements across disciplines, from research, teaching and technology to industry and government and more, according to the organization.

With colleagues from the University of Puerto Rico, Freudenheim has been leading a long-term study of factors related to disparities in breast cancer among Puerto Rican women. She also leads the Western New York Exposures and Breast Cancer study, which examines exposures, including nutrition and alcohol, during the life course and breast cancer risk and survival. She was the overall chair of the working group that prepared a report for the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, outlining the impact of reduction and cessation of alcohol on cancer risk.

Freudenheim has received numerous honors for her decades of contributions to research on diet and cancer risk. For instance, she recently received the American Society of Preventive Oncology’s Distinguished Achievement Award, given annually to an outstanding scientist in the area of preventive oncology, cancer control and/or cancer prevention who has made substantial research contributions.

The other new UB fellows are Geology Associate Professor Jason Briner; Keith Kirkwood, senior associate dean for research and Centennial Endowed Chair in the Department of Oral Biology;  Hao Zeng, Moti Lal Rustgi Professor of Physics; and Jun Zhuang, Morton C. Frank Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.