Biography of Angela Diaz

 After earning her medical degree in 1981 at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, she completed her post-doctoral training at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1985 and subsequently received a Master in Public Health degree from Harvard University. Dr. Diaz has provided direct medical services to children and adolescents for more than 25 years.

Dr. Diaz is the Director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, a unique program that provides comprehensive, integrated, interdisciplinary primary care, reproductive health, mental health and health education services to teens. Under her leadership, the Adolescent Health Center has become the largest adolescent health center in the U.S., seeing thousands of teens every year. Any teenager who comes through the Center’s doors is provided the best care available – for free.

Dr. Diaz is president of The Children’s Aid Society’s Board of Trustees. She has served on the Board for 13 years, eight of them as a vice president; she is only the second woman to be elected president of the Board, and the first doctor. She is the first Latina and person of color to serve as Children’s Aid’s president. Dr. Diaz was also the first attending physician for The Children’s Aid Society’s acclaimed teen pregnancy prevention program.

Dr. Diaz has been closely involved in comprehensive mental and primary health services, particularly in identifying and engaging trauma-affected adolescents. She has been active in international health projects in Asia, Central and South America, Europe and Africa, and is very involved in health advocacy and policy in the U.S. Dr. Diaz has published numerous articles on topics including child and adolescent sexual abuse, adolescents’ access to health care, and health services for immigrants.

Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Diaz has been a White House Fellow, has been named numerous times as one of the Best Doctors in New York by New York Magazine, and listed in America’s Top Doctors and Guide to America’s Top Pediatricians. She was also awarded the American Academy of Pediatrics Founders of Adolescent Health Award in 2001.

Dr. Diaz received the Alexander Richman Commemorative Award for Ethics and Humanism in Medicine from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Dr. Sidney Grossman Humanitarian Award from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine Alumni Association. Dr. Diaz is a member of the New York City Board of Health, served with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Pediatric Advisory Committee, served with the NIH State of the Science Conference on Preventing Violence and Related Health Risk Social Behaviors in Adolescents, and Chaired the National Advisory Committee on Children and Terrorism.