Diane E. Meier (born April 15, 1952), an American

geriatrician Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, is a medical specialty focused on providing care for the unique health needs of older adults. The term ''geriatrics'' originates from the Greek language, Greek γέρων ''geron'' meaning "old man", and ιατ ...

and palliative care specialist. In 1999, Dr. Meier founded the Center to Advance Palliative Care, a national organization devoted to increasing access to quality health care in the United States for people living with serious illness. She continues to serve as CAPC's Director Emerita and Strategic Medical Advisor. Meier is also Vice-Chair for Public Policy, Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine and Catherine Gaisman Professor of Medical Ethics at the

Icahn School of Medicine The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City. It is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sinai Health System, which manages eig ...

at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Meier was founder and Director of the Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute at the

in New York City from 1997 to 2011. An expert on palliative medicine, Meier has appeared in media including, '' CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley,

PBS NewsHour ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events. Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the pro ...

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, NewsHour'', '' ABC World News Tonight'', '' The Open Mind'' with

Richard Heffner Richard Douglas Heffner (August 5, 1925 – December 17, 2013) was the creator and host of '' The Open Mind,'' a public affairs television show first broadcast in 1956. He was a University Professor of Communications and Public Policy at Rutgers Uni ...

, ''

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'', the ''

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'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'', the '' New York Daily News'', '' Newsday'', ''

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'' and ''

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''. In 2002, she was featured in the

Bill Moyers Bill Moyers (born Billy Don Moyers, June 5, 1934) is an American journalist and political commentator. Under the Johnson administration he served from 1965 to 1967 as the eleventh White House Press Secretary. He was a director of the Counci ...

series ''On Our Own Terms: Dying in America'', a four-part

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

documentary. Meier has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers, several books, over twenty-nine book chapters and has been

principal investigator In many countries, the term principal investigator (PI) refers to the holder of an independent grant and the lead researcher for the grant project, usually in the sciences, such as a laboratory study or a clinical trial. The phrase is also often us ...

on numerous grants. She edited the first textbook on geriatric palliative care, as well as four editions of Geriatric Medicine. Her book, ''Meeting the Needs of Older Adults with Serious Illness'', was published by

Springer Publishing Springer Publishing Company is an American publishing company of academic journals and books, focusing on the fields of nursing, gerontology, psychology, social work, counseling, public health, and rehabilitation (neuropsychology). It was e ...

in 2014. ''Palliative Care: Transforming the Care of Serious Illness'', was published in 2010.

Biography

Meier was born in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

in 1952. She earned a BA in psychology from Oberlin College in 1973 and earned her MD at

Northwestern University School of Medicine Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is the Medical school in the United States, medical school of Northwestern University and is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1859, Feinberg offers a f ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 1977. She completed both an internship and a residency at Oregon Health Sciences from 1977 to 1981 and completed a fellowship in geriatric medicine at the

VA Medical Center The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the component of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) led by the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health that implements the healthcare program of the VA through a nationa ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. In 1983, Meier joined the Mount Sinai School of Medicine as an instructor in the Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development. She was named associate professor in 1990 and professor of geriatrics and medicine as well as professor of medical ethics in 1998. From 1995 until 2003 she served as chief of the Division of Geriatrics in Mount Sinai's Department of Medicine, and from 1995 to the present she has directed Mount Sinai's Palliative Care Program. In 1999 she was named director of both the Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute and the Center to Advance Palliative Care. Since 2000, Meier has sat on the board of the

Visiting Nurse Service of New York Founded in 1893 by nursing pioneer Lillian D. Wald and Mary M. Brewster, VNS Health is one of the largest not-for-profit home- and community-based health care organizations in the United States, serving the five boroughs of New York City; Nassau ...

Hospice Care. She serves or has served on national committees including the National Palliative Care Research Center (Chair, Scientific Advisory Committee) and the U.S. Senate’s Health Care Services Task Force. She sits on the editorial boards of the journals '' Drugs & Aging'', ''Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology'', '' Journal of Palliative Medicine'', ''

Journal of Pain and Symptom Management The ''Journal of Pain and Symptom Management'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal that was established in 1986. It is a continuation of the ''PRN Forum'' (Pain Research News forum), a bimonthly journal published from 1982 to 1985. It is t ...

'' and ''Internal Medicine News''.

Honors and awards

Meier is the recipient of the 2008

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

. She received the 2015 Academy Distinguished Award from the New York Academy of Medicine and was listed among ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

'' Best Doctors of 2009. *Alexander Richman Commemorative Award for Humanism in Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1998 *Founders Award of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, April 2007 *

, September 2008 *

Gold Humanism Honor Society The Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) is a national honor society that honors senior medical students, residents, role-model physician teachers and other exemplars recognized for excellence in clinical care, leadership, compassion and dedication ...

National Honoree, November 2008 * AARP 50th Anniversary Social Impact Award, November 2008 *American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award, March 2009

Grants

Meier's work has been supported by numerous large grants, including: *Archstone Foundation; Donaghue Foundation; John A. Hartford Foundation; Brookdale Foundation; Milbank Foundation for Rehabilitation; Mill Park Foundation; New York Community Trust; New York State Health Foundation; Olive Branch Fund; Partnership for Palliative Care; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; The Atlantic Philanthropies; The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc.

United Hospital Fund The United Hospital Fund of New York (UHF) is a nonprofit organization that focuses on improving health care in New York. It conducts health policy research and supports numerous health care initiatives through fundraising, grantmaking, and collabo ...

; U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs; Y.C. Ho/Helen and Michael Chiang Foundation. December 1999- November 2011; Total direct costs: $36.5 million *Palliative care for hospitalized cancer patients:

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

NCI-NIH (R01 CA116227-01); August 2006 – August 2011; Direct costs: $5.2 million

Books

*Meier, DE, Kelley, Amy S, (eds). ''Meeting the Needs of Older Adults with Serious Illness: Challenges and Opportunities in the Age of Health Care Reform.'' Springer: 2014 *Hughes RG, Isaacs SL, Meier DE, (eds). ''Palliative Care: Transforming the Care of Serious Illness.'' Wiley/Jossey-Bass: March 2010. *Cassel CK, Leipzig RM, Cohen HJ, Larson EB, Meier DE, (eds). ''Geriatric Medicine''. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. *Cassel CK, Leipzig RM, Cohen HJ, Larson EB, Meier DE, eds. ''Geriatric Medicine: An Evidence-Based Approach''. 4th ed. New York: Springer-Verlag, 2003. *Morrison RS, Meier DE (eds). ''Geriatric Palliative Care''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Publications

Partial list: *Meier DE, Lim B, Carlson MD. Raising the standard: palliative care in nursing homes. ''

Health Affairs ''Health Affairs'' is a monthly peer-reviewed healthcare journal established in 1981 by John K. Iglehart; since 2014, the editor-in-chief is Alan Weil. It was described by ''The Washington Post'' as "the bible of health policy". Abstracting an ...

'' (Millwood). 2010 Jan-Feb;29(1):136-40. *Meier DE, Casarett DJ, von Gunten CF, Smith WJ, Storey CP. Palliative Medicine: Politics and Policy. '' Journal of Palliative Medicine''. 31 December 2009. *Adler ED, Goldfinger JZ, Kalman J, Park ME, Meier DE. Palliative care in the treatment of advanced heart failure. '' Circulation''. 22 December 2009;120(25):2597-606. Review. *Weissman D, Morrison RS, Meier DE. Center to Advance Palliative Care Palliative Care Clinical Care and Customer Satisfaction Metrics Consensus Recommendations. ''Journal of Palliative Medicine''. 18 November 2009. *Meier DE, Beresford L. Palliative care seeks its home in national health care reform. ''Journal of Palliative Medicine''. 2009 Jul;12(7):593-7. *Meier DE. Finding my place. ''Journal of Palliative Medicine''. 2009 Apr;12(4):331-5. *Horton JD, Lee S, Brown SR, Bader J, Meier DE. Survival trends in children with hepatoblastoma. ''Pediatric Surgery International''. 2009 May;25(5):407-12. Epub 24 March 2009. *Weissman DE, Meier DE. Center to advance palliative care inpatient unit operational metrics: consensus recommendations. ''Journal of Palliative Medicine''. 2009 Jan;12(1):21-5. *Meier DE, Beresford L. Palliative care cost research can help other palliative care programs make their case. ''Journal of Palliative Medicine''. 2009 Jan;12(1):15-20. *Weissman DE, Meier DE, Spragens LH. Center to Advance Palliative Care palliative care consultation service metrics: consensus recommendations. ''Journal of Palliative Medicine''. 2008 Dec;11(10):1294-8. *Meier DE. Voices. Why palliative care matters to patients and to your bottom line. Interview by Bill Santamour. '' Hospitals & Health Networks''. 2008 Nov;82(11):16, 19. *Weissman DE, Meier DE. Operational features for hospital palliative care programs: consensus recommendations. ''Journal of Palliative Medicine''. 2008 Nov;11(9):1189-94. *Meier DE, Beresford L. Palliative care professionals contribute to state legislative and policy initiatives. ''Journal of Palliative Medicine''. 2008 Oct;11(8):1070-3. *Ferrell B, Connor SR, Cordes A, Dahlin CM, Fine PG, Hutton N, Leenay M, Lentz J, Lund-Person J, Meier DE, Zuroski K. The national agenda for quality palliative care: The National Consensus Project and the National Quality Forum. ''

''. 2007;33:737-744. *Morrison RS, Meier DE, Fischberg D, Moore C, Degenholtz H, Litke A, Maroney-Galin C, Siu AL. Improving the management of pain in hospitalized adults. ''

Archives of Internal Medicine ''JAMA Internal Medicine'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by the American Medical Association. It was established in 1908 as the ''Archives of Internal Medicine'' and obtained its current title in 2013. It covers all aspects ...

''. 2006;166:1033-1039. *Meier DE. Palliative care as a quality improvement strategy for advanced, chronic illness. '' Journal for Healthcare Quality''. 2005;27: 33-39. *Nelson JE, Meier DE, Litke A, Natale DA, Siegel RE, Morrison RS. The symptom burden of chronic critical illness. '' Critical Care Medicine''. 2004;32:1527-1534. *Morrison RS, Meier DE. Clinical Practice. Palliative care. ''

The New England Journal of Medicine ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals as well as the oldest continuously published one. Hi ...

''. 2004;350(25):2582-90. *Meier, DE. United States: Overview of cancer pain and palliative care. ''Journal of Pain and Symptom Management''. 2002;24:265-269. *Meier DE, Back A, Morrison RS. The inner life of physicians and the care of the seriously ill. ''

JAMA ''The Journal of the American Medical Association'' (''JAMA'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of biom ...

''. 2001; 286:3007-3014.

References

External links

The Center to Advance Palliative CareThe Mount Sinai Hospital homepageIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai School homepageMedscape video editorial.
Meier DE. "Palliative care is the job of every hospital". July 6, 2007
"Palliative Care Pioneer Dr. Diane Meier on How People Struggle with Serious, Sometimes Terminal, Illness"
''Democracy Now'', March 24, 2010
Diane E. Meier Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meier, Diane E. 1952 births MacArthur Fellows Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai faculty Feinberg School of Medicine alumni Oberlin College alumni People from Princeton, New Jersey Living people American geriatricians Women geriatricians Members of the National Academy of Medicine