Diane E. Meier, MD, Receives Medal of Honor from the American Cancer Society
Dr. Meier was awarded the ACS's highest honor for pioneering leadership in bringing non-hospice palliative care into mainstream medicine.
In recognition of her exceptional contributions to the fight against cancer, Diane E. Meier, MD, FACP, Vice-Chair of Public Policy in the Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at The Mount Sinai Medical Center, was awarded The American Cancer Society's highest honor, the Medal of Honor at a ceremony in Atlanta on November 16. Dr. Meier was recognized for pioneering leadership in bringing non-hospice palliative care into mainstream medicine.
Dr. Meier, honored with a Medal of Honor for Cancer Control, was one of four individuals recognized with medals by the nation's leading voluntary health organization and largest non-governmental investor in cancer research during the Nationwide Volunteer and Staff Leadership Summit (http://pressroom.cancer.org/MedalofHonor2012#.UKqPi5yU9SQ.email).
"These honorees represent the very best in the fight against cancer," said John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., chief executive officer, American Cancer Society (ACS) said in a press release issued by the ACS. "Each of our Medal of Honor recipients has helped make essential advancements that benefit all of us." Other medals were awarded for basic and clinical research and for philanthropy.
"We are very proud of Dr. Meier, who is a model educator, researcher, physician and human being. She has improved outcomes and enhanced quality of life for patients, survivors and their families, at The Mount Sinai Medical Center and globally," said Dennis S. Charney, MD, the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs of The Mount Sinai Medical Center. "She has inspired colleagues and encouraged a collaborative approach to provide exceptional patient care."
Dr. Meier is director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care, a national organization devoted to increasing the number and quality of palliative care programs in the United States. Dr. Meier also serves as director of the Lillian and Benjamin Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute; Professor of Geriatrics and Internal Medicine in the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine; and Catherine Gaisman Professor of Medical Ethics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She was the founder and Director of the Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute from 1997-2011, at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
She is currently Principal Investigator of a National Cancer Institute-funded five-year multisite study on the outcomes of hospital palliative care services in cancer patients.
"It's a huge honor to be recognized with this award. The American Cancer Society's tremendous work in cancer research is unparalleled. We have a shared goal of improving the lives of patients and increasing the number of cancer survivors," said Dr. Meier.
Dr. Meier was named one of 20 People Who Make Healthcare Better in the U.S. by HealthLeaders Media in 2010. She received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in September of 2008 and an Honorary Doctorate of Science from Oberlin College in 2010. Other honors include the Open Society Institute Faculty Scholar's Award of the Project on Death in America, the Alexander Richman Commemorative Award for Humanism in Medicine, the Founders Award of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization 2007, AARP's 50th Anniversary Social Impact Award 2008, Gold Humanism Honor Society National Honoree 2008, Castle Connelly's Physician of the Year Award 2009, and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award 2009. Dr. Meier served as one of Columbia University's Health and Aging Policy Fellows in Washington DC during the 2009-2010 academic year, working both on the Senate's HELP Committee and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Dr. Meier has over 100 peer reviewed publications in the medical literature. Her most recent book, Palliative Care: Transforming the Care of Serious Illness, was published by Jossey in 2010. She edited the first textbook on geriatric palliative care, as well as four editions of Geriatric Medicine.
After receiving her BA from Oberlin College and her MD from Northwestern University Medical School, Dr. Meier completed her residency and fellowship training at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. She has been on the faculty of the Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine and Department of Medicine at Mount Sinai since 1983.
About The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Established in 1968, Mount Sinai School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States. The Medical School is noted for innovation in education, biomedical research, clinical care delivery, and local and global community service. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 14 research institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and by U.S. News & World Report.
The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. In 2012, U.S. News & World Report ranked The Mount Sinai Hospital 14th on its elite Honor Roll of the nation's top hospitals based on reputation, safety, and other patient-care factors. Mount Sinai is one of 12 integrated academic medical centers whose medical school ranks among the top 20 in NIH funding and by U.S. News & World Report and whose hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 560,000 outpatient visits took place.
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About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with 48,000 employees working across seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 11 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report's® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2024-2025.
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