Diana Rosemary Lennon ONZM (3 October 1949 – 15 May 2018) was a New Zealand academic and paediatrician, specialising in infectious diseases, and was a full professor at the University of Auckland.
In 2017 Lennon published the results of a world-first trial showing that community interventions (sore-throat clinics in primary schools) could significantly reduce the rate of rheumatic fever in school-children.
Her work showing that the greatest risk factor for meningococcal disease is crowding led directly to changes in how state homes are built.
[3] In the 2005 New Year Honours, Lennon was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to science and health.
[4] In 2008, the Royal Society Te Apārangi awarded her one of two inaugural Dame Joan Metge Medals for her "research as a paediatrician scientist [that] has made a major impact on the lives of New Zealand children".