Diane M. Becker | |
---|---|
Born | Diane M. Demarest March 27, 1943
Warwick, New York, U.S. |
Died | February 17, 2021
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | (aged 77)
Alma mater | Johns Hopkins University |
Spouse | |
Children | 1 |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Public health, cardiovascular disease prevention |
Institutions | Johns Hopkins University |
Doctoral advisor | David M. Levine |
Diane M. Becker ( née Demarest; March 27, 1943 - November 17, 2021) was an American nurse and public health scientist who researched cardiovascular disease prevention. She was a professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Becker graduated from Monroe-Woodbury High School in 1961. [1] Becker graduated from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in 1964 with a R.N. Diploma in Nursing. [1] [2]
For 17 years, Becker worked as a nursing director in intensive care units in London, Boston, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. [1] She earned a B.S. (1978), M.P.H. (1979), and Sc.D. (1984) in health policy and management from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. [3] Her doctoral advisor was David M. Levine. Becker's dissertation was titled Risk Behaviors and Risk Factors in Siblings of People with Early Coronary Heart Disease. [2]
Levine recruited Becker in 1984, Becker to join the faculty of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. [3] [4] She researched cardiovascular disease prevention and specialized in coronary disease risk factors. [3] [4] In 1987, Becker became the first nurse to receive an academic appointment in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. [4] She worked in the department of medicine division of general internal medicine and held a joint appointment in the Bloomberg School department of health policy and management. [4]
Becker partnered with pastors from 250 churches in East Baltimore to create the nonprofit Heart, Body, and Soul, Inc. aimed at improving health outcomes among urban African American populations. [3] In 1995, Becker became a Robert Wood Johnson Fellow. [3] Becker retired in 2018 and was named a professor emerita of medicine. [1]
Becker was born March 27, 1943, in Warwick, New York, to Lucile Swartwout, a nurse, and John Smith Demarest a bar and inn manager in Greenwood Lake, New York. [1] [3] She met Lewis C. Becker, her future husband, while she was a nursing student and he was studying medicine. [1] They married on November 7, 1964. [2] They had a daughter. [1] Becker and her husband were seasonal residents of Martha's Vineyard, having bought a home in Lambert's Cove in 1990. [3]
Becker died November 17, 2021, of metastatic breast cancer in North Roland Park, Baltimore. [1] [3] An Anglican funeral mass was held at St. Thomas the Apostle Hollywood. [1]