Dr. Frederick is a pediatric hematologist and oncologist at Connecticut Children’s in the United States, where she focuses on the care of adolescent and young adults (AYA) with cancer. She is jointly appointed as an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and the Frank H. Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University. She serves at the clinical program director of Connecticut Children’s Comprehensive Fertility and Sexual Health Program as well as co-leads the Connecticut Children’s AYA Program.

The overarching goal of Dr. Frederick’s research program aims to develop effective strategies to improve sexual and reproductive health (SRH) communication between AYAs and their clinicians to ensure this vulnerable population receives the necessary care to make thoughtful, well-informed decisions through treatment, minimize risk for complications, and to ensure that they can thrive in survivorship. Current research projects include the development of a clinician-centered education intervention to improve clinician knowledge on sexual health and cancer along with skills in effective SRH communication. With funding from the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Frederick is also developing a patient-centered web-based intervention that focuses on improving AYA access to SRH information through digital resources and meaningful communication with clinicians.

Dr. Frederick serves as the Chair of the Children’s Oncology Group Sexual Health Task Force, which focuses on improving comprehensive sexual health for AYAs through to exploring the feasibility of sexual health research initiatives, advising on compelling research questions, and delivering these within the cooperative group setting. In partnership with the Pediatric and Adolescent Committee of the Oncofertility Program, she co-leads the development of clinical practice guidelines on the use of contraception during cancer therapy and in survivorship. Dr. Frederick also serves as a consultant for the NCI-funded ECHO-TORCH program, which focuses on training nurses, social workers, psychologists, and physician assistants to address reproductive health concerns among AYA oncology patients via a web-based learning community, and to evaluate the impact of the program at the participant level.