Founder

Robert J Friedlander Jr., MD, Founder

As a hematologist-oncologist and subsequently a palliative care physician, Bob focused his clinical and research roles on the human connections between patients, family members and physicians. In his volunteer life, his long-standing interest in active listening, personal narratives, community organizing and working with diverse populations led to the founding of Innisfree Cancer Help of NH, an interdisciplinary supportive care program, and Healthcare Voices of NH, a grassroots, independent and non-partisan COVID-19 vaccine trust-building campaign. In political campaigns and non-partisan ones, Bob has helped amplify the individual and collective voices of a diverse cross-section of healthcare workers. It was in this spirit that he founded NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action. Bob hopes to leverage the ’trusted-messenger status’ of healthcare workers on the impact of climate on health to enhance awareness, knowledge and direct action in support of climate solutions. As with past community organizing initiatives, he is committed to developing affiliations with community organizations, academic centers and national organizations. Bob is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, Yale College, and Weill Cornell Medicine. Bob founded NH HWCA in the summer of 2021 and served as Board Chair for the first year. He founded CHICKs in 2022, the Climate and Health Initiative for Caregivers and Kids. The goal of CHICKs is to protect the mental and physical health of children 0-10 years old and their parents/caregivers in a changing climate. CHICKs is developing K-5 after-school climate and health programming, parent climate cafes, and a statewide grassroots climate and children's health advocacy movement.