After going to the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center for assistance, the doctors there encouraged her to return to school and she graduated.
[2] While still earning her undergraduate degree, Diaz was admitted into the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons despite not taking the standard medical school exams or paying the $15 application fee.
[1] During the 1990s, she eventually became a professor and vice chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
[7] In 2019, Diaz and Jonathan Todres co-authored a book titled Preventing Child Trafficking: A Public Health Approach.
[8] As of 2020[update], Diaz's daughter Daniela teaches at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.