Dr. Fried received her medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine and completed her internal medicine residency at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, before moving to Pittsburgh for nephrology fellowship. After fellowship, she joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh and the VAPHS. Dr. Fried is a Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Clinical & Translational Science at the University of Pittsburgh. She also serves as vice chair of the VAPHS Institutional Review Board.

Her research interests include diabetic kidney disease and the epidemiology of kidney disease in older individuals and the role of kidney disease in the development of cardiovascular disease and functional limitation. She was chair of a VA Cooperative Study comparing the combination angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blocker with monotherapy on progression of diabetic kidney disease. She has over 145 peer reviewed publications.