Dr. Friel has served as the Leonard Parker Pool Endowed Chair of the Department of Medicine at Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) since 2015. He is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of South Florida Morsani School of Medicine. He joined LVHN in 1999 as an infectious disease specialist with special interest in HIV medicine. Since that time, he has served multiple roles including Medical Director of the Lehigh Valley Hospital AIDS Activities Office (AAO), Medical Director of the Mark J. Young Community Health and Wellness Center, and Department of Medicine Vice Chair for Research and LVH-17^th Street.  Dr. Friel was the Director of the Lehigh Valley Hospital HIV Testing Site where he established the first HIV testing program embedded within a medical practice within Pennsylvania.  Additionally, he has been a member of the LVHN Institutional Review Board, Infection Prevention and Control Committee, Data Strategy Oversight Committee, Departmental QI/QA Committee, Research Leadership Advisory Board, Medical Executive Committee, and Primary Care Strategy Steering Committee. He currently oversees multiple network initiatives including the medical marijuana program, eConsult implementation program, spine center leadership team and outpatient antimicrobial stewardship committee. Since March 2020, he has played an important role in overseeing LVHN’s clinical and operational strategies for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A graduate of Harvard College (1990) and Harvard Medical School (1994), he completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. He finished his infectious disease and HIV/AIDS clinical fellowship in 1999 at the Harvard Combined Infectious Disease Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.  Dr. Friel has received the Teaching Top 20 Award and Subspecialty Outstanding Teacher Award many times since 2000.  Under his leadership, the AAO was awarded the Healthcare Heroes Community Education Award in 2014.  He was a member of the inaugural Health Management Academy’s Physician Leadership Program (2014) and served as a fellow and mentor in the LVHN Institute for Physician Leadership. He has remained active in clinical research, with special interest in HIV and hepatitis C treatment, infectious disease diagnostics and health disparities.

Dr. Friel has special interest in a diverse range of fields, including physician engagement, leadership development, clinical innovation and public health. He is married to Kristin Friel, MD, an obstetrician/gynecologist at LVHN, and is the father of three children.