Diana Lennon

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]

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]

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.[6]

• 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 J. 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.

• Publications by Diana Lennon at ResearchGate