Diane Harper, M.D., M.S., MPH

Additional Title(s)

• Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies

Dr. Diane M. Harper is an internationally recognized family physician and clinical research expert in HPV-associated diseases, their prevention, early detection, and treatment for the prevention of cancer. She has been a consultant for the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to advise on global guidelines and to set up screening and prevention operations in low and middle-income countries to prevent cervical cancer. She is the first Family Medicine physician-researcher to be inducted as a member of the Association of American Physicians (link is external), which recognizes researchers for their impactful contributions to improve patient care through the advancement of physician-led research. She also has received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the European Research Organization on Genital Infection and Neoplasia for her scientific work as well as the Femmes de l’Année Prix Monte Carlo, which honors influential changemakers working to better women’s lives around the world.

As a physician-researcher, Dr. Harper has a strong interest in public health, epidemiology, and health behaviors, all fields in which she has published over her 30-year career. She has over 300 publications and tens of thousands of citations, has contributed to multiple textbooks, and has shaped global guidelines and policies related to cervical cancer screening and prevention efforts in the U.S., Europe, and for the WHO Elimination of Cervical Cancer Initiative. According to a 2023 study published in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics (link is external), Dr. Harper ranks third among co-cited authors in the HPV cancer vaccine and cervical cancer prevention literature globally. She has also served as a member of the United States Preventive Services Task Force.

Dr. Harper is also renowned for her educational commitment in medicine receiving the Excellence in Education award from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) for her lifetime dedication to education. In addition, she was honored with the Curtis G Hames Research Award from three Family Medicine organizations: STFM, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the North American Primary Care Research Group. Dr. Harper has completed the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine fellowship and has served as the Chair of the Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine at the University of Louisville with the Rowntree Endowment. 

Dr. Harper joined the instructional track faculty in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School in early 2018.

Read about her work developing an at-home cervical cancer testing method, comprised of a urine collection device that washes the HPV-infected cells already shed from the cervix and vagina. According to Dr. Harper, the test is as accurate as the vaginal devices and the clinician devices (i.e. Pap test) used to detect cervical cancer. Her article was published in Medicine at Michigan in August 2023.