Janet L. Abrahm, MD

Janet L. Abrahm, MD, FACP, FAAHPM, is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Institute Physician at DFCI, practicing palliative care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). She attended the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), completed her internship and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, and served as chief resident in medicine at Moffitt Hospital of UCSF. She then completed her fellowships in hematology and oncology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where she stayed on to work for twenty years. She is board certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology, Oncology, and  Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She has held dozens of major administrative leadership positions and has participated in numerous national and international palliative care educational projects. 

In 2001, after 20 years as a practicing hematologist/oncologist, Dr. Abrahm created the first palliative care service and the first palliative care fellowship at DFCI and BWH. Dr. Abrahm spent over 10 years as a faculty member in the national DFCI Master Course for oncologists, speaking on a broad array of cancer-related palliative care topics. Since 2010, Dr. Abrahm has participated as a master teacher in the Education in Palliative and End-of-Life (EPEC)-Oncology course, has been a member of the ASCO international palliative care faculty and mentorship group, and served for almost ten years in the leadership of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). Among her >150 publications is the 4th edition of her ground-breaking book, Comprehensive Guide to Supportive and Palliative Care for Patients with Cancer. 

Dr. Abrahm’s work in this area has led to numerous accolades and awards as a thought leader, mentor, and educator, including in 2019, the Edward J. Benz, Jr. Award for Advancing Careers of Women Faculty (DFCI), the 2022 Award for Excellence in Education and Training from the AAHPM, and the 2022 UCSF Alumni Discovery Award. In 2024 Dr. Abrahm received one of ASCO’s highest awards, the Walther Cancer Foundation Supportive Oncology Award, recognizing distinguished leaders who have made important contributions to palliative and supportive oncology care by advancing the prevention, assessment, and management of cancer and treatment-related suffering.