Diane M Harper

Dr. Diane M. Harper is an internationally recognized family physician and clinical research expert in HPV-associated diseases, their prevention, early detection, and treatment for cancer prevention. She has been a consultant for the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to advise on global guidelines and to set up screening and prevention operations in low and middle-income countries to prevent cervical cancer. She is the first Family Medicine physician-researcher to be inducted as a member of the Association of American Physicians(link is external), which recognizes researchers for their impactful contributions to improve patient care through the advancement of physician-led research. She also has received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the European Research Organization on Genital Infection and Neoplasia for her scientific work as well as the Femmes de l'Année Prix Monte Carlo, which honors influential changemakers working to better women's lives around the world.

As a physician-researcher, Dr. Harper has a strong interest in public health, epidemiology, and health behaviors, all fields in which she has published over her 30-year career. She has over 300 publications and tens of thousands of citations, has contributed to multiple textbooks, and has shaped global guidelines and policies related to cervical cancer screening and prevention efforts in the U.S., Europe, and for the WHO Elimination of Cervical Cancer Initiative. Dr. Harper ranks third among co-cited authors in the HPV cancer vaccine and cervical cancer prevention literature globally (see separate link). She has also served as a United States Preventive Services Task Force member.

Dr. Harper's research team is the first to publish in a US-based population the equivalence of self-sampling to the speculum exam for cancer screening, which is now implemented in Michigan Medicine clinics. Her team is collaborating with Bioengineering to develop a urine device that collects the HPV-infected cells already shed from the cervix and vagina. A urine test, if done correctly, can be as accurate as the vaginal devices and the clinician speculum exam (e.g., the Pap test) used to detect cervical cancer. PMC11791345 and
PMC12424416

Dr. Harper's research interests include: Prevention, screening, early detection, and treatment of HPV-associated cancers including cervix, anus, and oropharynx; evidence-based guidelines development; women's health; women in rural Michigan; women of Arab American descent; African American women; women with disabilities; Native American women.

Research Interests: Prevention, screening, early detection, and treatment of HPV-associated cancers including cervix, anus, and oropharynx; evidence-based guidelines development; women's health; women in rural Michigan; women of Arab American descent; African American women; women with disabilities; Native American women.