Associate Professor

Dr. Paul Lindenfeld is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Palliative Medicine. He is an attending physician in the Symptom Management Service at the Helen Diller Cancer Center at the Mission Bay campus and also the Outpatient Palliative Care Service at the Parnassus campus.

Dr. Lindenfeld previously worked for 13 years in the field of primary care before completing a fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He now works entirely in outpatient palliative medicine at UCSF where he provides symptom management, assists with advance care planning and supports patients with a variety of serious, chronic medical illnesses. Dr. Lindenfeld routinely provides palliative care to patients with malignancy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other neurodegenerative illnesses, pulmonary fibrosis, advanced congestive heart failure and advanced kidney or liver disease. He is actively involved in teaching fellows, medicine and pharmacy residents, and medical students who are interested in learning about palliative medicine.

Dr. Lindenfeld's academic interests center upon improving the current state of symptom management in palliative medicine. Examples of his interests include: use of buprenorphine for pain management in palliative care, improved treatment of cancer pain, novel approaches to the treatment of painful chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and neuropathic pain, the repurposing of existing medications for more effective symptom management in palliative care, and the development of novel therapeutic agents for symptom management.
Education
05/2021 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training, University of California
06/2019 - Hospice and Palliative Care Fellowship, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
06/2004 - Internal Medicine Residency, University of Washington
M.D., 05/2001 - Medical School, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine
B.S., 05/1994 - Chemisty and Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Michigan
Honors and Awards
  • Elected junior year of medical school, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, 1999
Publications
  1. Sabol RA, Patel AM, Sabbagh A, Wilson C, Yuen F, Lindenfeld P, Aggarwal R, Breyer B, Mohamad O. A case of cetuximab-induced radiation recall skin dermatitis and review of the literature. 2023. PMID: 38185934


  2. Bischoff KE, Lin J, Cohen E, O'Riordan DL, Meister S, Zapata C, Sicotte J, Lindenfeld P, Calton B, Pantilat SZ. Outpatient Palliative Care for Noncancer Illnesses: One Program's Experience with Implementation, Impact, and Lessons Learned. 2022. PMID: 35442773


  3. Bischoff KE, Choi S, Su A, Cohen E, O'Riordan DL, Oettel E, Blachman M, Meister S, Zapata C, Lindenfeld P, Calton B, Witt L, Pantilat SZ, Shah RJ. Better Together: A Mixed-Methods Study of Palliative Care Co-Management for Patients with Interstitial Lung Disease. 2021. PMID: 34115958