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Biographical Sketch
Neil Friedman, MBChB, obtained his medical degree from the University of Cape Town, South Africa in 1987. He spent the next 18 months working in a rural hospital in South Africa gaining clinical experience before working in London, England, for the next three years in various pediatric subspecialty fields. This included 10 months of research in pediatric neuromuscular disorders under Professor Victor Dubowitz at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, United Kingdom.
His specialty training included a Pediatrics residency at the University of Arizona (1995) with subsequent completion of a Neurology fellowship with special qualifications in Child Neurology through Children’s Hospital.,Boston (1998). Since 1998, Dr Friedman has served as a staff physician in Pediatric Neurology at the Cleveland Clinic. He is board-certified in both Pediatrics and Neurology. He is the director of the Pediatric Neurology Training Fellowship since 2003.
Dr. Friedman’s specialty interests include pediatric stroke, the neurological complications of congenital heart disease and cardiomyopathy, pediatric neuromuscular disease and neonatal neurology. He has been instrumental in establishing an Ohio Pediatric Stroke Registry and is a member of the International Pediatric Stroke Study consortium. He has also established a protocol for the neuromuscular and neurometabolic evaluation of children with idiopathic cardiomyopathy and has established a multidisciplinary pediatric neuromuscular clinic for the comprehensive evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of children with neuromuscular disease.
Specialty Interests
Clinical Trials, fetal and neonatal neurology, general and neuromuscular neurology, inherited and demyelinating neuropathies, metabolic myopathies, Myasthenia Gravis, myopathies, nerve and muscle pathology, nerve pathology, nerve/muscle/skin biopsies, neurocardiology, neuroimaging, Neuromuscular diseases, neuromuscular disorders, neuromuscular medicine, neurosarcoid, pediatric neuromuscular disease, pediatric stroke and cerebrovascular disease, peripheral nerve injury, Peripheral Neuropathy
Industry Relationships
Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists may collaborate with the pharmaceutical or medical device industries to help develop medical breakthroughs or provide medical expertise or education. Cleveland Clinic strives to make scientific advances that will benefit patient care and support outside relationships that promise public benefit. In order for the discoveries of Cleveland Clinic physicians' and scientists' laboratories and investigations to benefit the public, these discoveries must be commercialized in partnership with industry. As experts in their fields, Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists are often sought after by industry to consult, provide expertise and education.
To assure professional and commercial integrity in such matters, Cleveland Clinic maintains a program that reviews these collaborations and, when appropriate, puts measures in place to minimize bias that may result from ties to industry. The Cleveland Clinic publicly discloses the names of companies when (i) its physicians/scientists receive $5,000 or more per year (or, in rare cases, equity or stock options) for speaking and consulting, (ii) its physicians/scientists serve as a fiduciary, (iii) its physicians/scientists
receive or have the right to receive royalties or (iv) its physicians/scientists hold any equity interest for the physician's/scientist's role as inventor, discoverer, developer, founder or consultant.* In publicly disclosing this information, the Cleveland Clinic tries to provide information as accurately as possible about its physicians' and scientists' connections with industry.
As of 8/6/2012, Dr. Friedman has reported no financial relationship with industry that is applicable to this listing. In general, patients should feel free to contact their doctor about any of the relationships and how the relationships are overseen by the Cleveland Clinic. To learn more about the Cleveland Clinic's policies on collaborations with industry and innovation management, go to our Integrity in Innovation page.
Public Health Service-Reportable Financial Conflicts of Interest. Cleveland Clinic scientists and physicians engage in basic, translational and clinical research activities, working to solve health problems, enhance patient care and improve quality of life for patients. Interactions with industry are essential to bringing the researchers’ discoveries to the public, but can present the potential for conflicts of interest related to their research activities. Click here to view a listing of instances where Cleveland Clinic has identified a Public Health Service (PHS)-Reportable Financial Conflict of Interest and has put measures in place to ensure that, to the extent possible, the design, conduct and reporting of the research is free from bias.
* Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists subscribe to the guidance presented in the PhRMA Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals and the AdvaMed Code of Ethics on Interactions with Health Care Professionals. As such, gifts of substantial value are generally prohibited.