Diana Lennon

Diana Rosemary Lennon ONZM (1949 – 15 May 2018) was a New Zealand academic and pediatrician, specialising in infectious diseases, and was a full professor at the University of Auckland.[1]

Diana Lennon
Born(1949-10-03)3 October 1949
Died15 May 2018(2018-05-15) (aged 68)
AwardsJoan Metge Medal, ONZM
Scientific career
Fieldspediatric infectious diseases, vaccination
InstitutionsStarship Children's Hospital, Auckland University, Middlemore Hospital

Academic career

Lennon graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Otago in 1972.[2] She was awarded FRACP in Pediatrics in 1978.[3]

After a short research position at the University of Auckland, Lennon trained further in infectious diseases at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1982 she returned to New Zealand as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland, with a half-time role as a specialist pediatrician at the Auckland Hospital Board.

She was promoted to Associate Professor in 1991, and Professor of Population Child and Youth Health in 1996.[3]

Lennon was a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at Princess Mary Hospital, Starship Hospital and Middlemore Hospital in Auckland, and provided consultant services throughout the country.[3]

Research

Lennon's work on rheumatic fever began in the 1980s with the setting up of a rheumatic fever register for the Auckland region, which was followed by free delivery of a penicillin-based treatment to prevent resurgence. In 2006 Lennon was co-author on New Zealand's first evidence-based diagnostic and treatment guidelines for rheumatic fever. In 2017 Lennon published the results of a world-first trial showing that community interventions (sore-throat clinics in primary schools) could significantly reduce the rate of rheumatic fever in school-children.[3]

Lennon also worked on prevention of other infectious diseases in children. Her work was instrumental in the introduction of vaccine programmes for Haemophilus influenzae type b and meningococcal A and B. Her work showing that the greatest risk factor for meningococcal disease is crowding led directly to changes in how state homes are built.[1][2]

Awards

In 1992 Lennon was named Plunket Woman of the Year.[3] Lennon was made a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America in 1994.[3]

She became an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2005 for services to science and health.[4] In 2008 the Royal Society Te Apārangi awarded her one of two inaugural Dame Joan Metge Medals for her "research as a paediatrician scientist [that] has made a major impact on the lives of New Zealand children".[5]

In 2017 Lennon was featured in the Royal Society Te Apārangi's 150 women in 150 words project, celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand.[6]

Selected works
  • Diana Lennon; Melissa Kerdemelidis; Bruce Arroll (1 July 2009). "Meta-analysis of trials of streptococcal throat treatment programs to prevent rheumatic fever". The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. 28 (7): e259-64. doi:10.1097/INF.0B013E3181A8E12A. ISSN 0891-3668. PMID 19561421. Wikidata Q33475557.
  • Polly Atatoa-Carr; Diana Lennon; Nigel Wilson; New Zealand Rheumatic Fever Guidelines Writing Group (4 April 2008). "Rheumatic fever diagnosis, management, and secondary prevention: a New Zealand guideline". The New Zealand Medical Journal. 121 (1271): 59–69. ISSN 0028-8446. PMID 18392063. Wikidata Q34590137.
  • Rachel Webb; Lesley Voss; Sally Roberts; Tim Hornung; Elizabeth Rumball; Diana Lennon (1 May 2014). "Infective endocarditis in New Zealand children 1994-2012". The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. 33 (5): 437–442. doi:10.1097/INF.0000000000000133. ISSN 0891-3668. PMID 24378941. Wikidata Q38174817.
  • Wilson N; Baker M; Martin D; et al. (1 October 1995). "Meningococcal disease epidemiology and control in New Zealand". The New Zealand Medical Journal. 108 (1010): 437–442. ISSN 0028-8446. PMID 7478351. Wikidata Q40370128.
  • Alison Vogel; Diana Lennon; Emma Best; Alison Leversha (14 October 2016). "Where to from here? The treatment of impetigo in children as resistance to fusidic acid emerges". The New Zealand Medical Journal. 129 (1443): 77–83. ISSN 0028-8446. PMID 27736855. Wikidata Q40508160.
  • Baker MG; Martin DR; Kieft CE; Lennon D (1 October 2001). "A 10-year serogroup B meningococcal disease epidemic in New Zealand: descriptive epidemiology, 1991-2000". Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. 37 (5): S13-9. doi:10.1046/J.1440-1754.2001.00722.X. ISSN 1034-4810. PMID 11885731. Wikidata Q40654789.

References
  1. "Professor Diana Lennon ONZM Obituary - the University of Auckland". Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  2. "Obituary: Leading doctor Professor Diana Lennon had 'limitless' energy to help children". NZ Herald. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  3. Innes Asher (8 June 2018). "Professor Diana Lennon 3 October 1949 – 15 May 2018". The New Zealand Medical Journal. 131. ISSN 0028-8446. Wikidata Q104519616.
  4. "New Year Honours List 2005". New Year Honours List 2005. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  5. "Metge Medal". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  6. "Diana Lennon". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
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