Diane J. Nugent

Biography

Diane J. Nugent, M.D., is Clinical Professor and Chief of Hematology in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California Irvine School of Medicine and Director and Chief of Hematology at Children's Hospital of Orange County. She received her medical degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and completed a Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Research Fellowship at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Children's Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle. Nugent founded and serves as Medical Director of the Center for Comprehensive Care and Diagnosis of Inherited Blood Disorders, a federally funded community-based clinic for adults and children. Her research focuses on immune thrombocytopenic purpura, rare bleeding disorders including factor XIII deficiency, and platelet function disorders.

Nugent has held numerous leadership positions in national and international organizations. She served on the National Heart, Lung and Blood Advisory Council at the National Institutes of Health from 2016 to 2020 and co-chaired the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis Scientific and Standardization Committee Platelet Physiology from 2005 to 2023. She served as President of the Hemostasis Thrombosis Research Society from 2014 to 2016 and has been a member of the American Society of Hematology Government Affairs Committee since 2006. Nugent has directed multiple federally funded programs, including the Region IX Hemophilia Treatment Center and served as Principal Investigator for the Maternal and Child Health Bureau Hemophilia Program and CDC Community Counts surveillance initiatives.

Nugent has authored over 190 peer-reviewed publications and has been Principal Investigator on multiple NIH grants studying the pathogenesis of autoimmune thrombocytopenia and molecular diagnosis of bleeding disorders. She has served on numerous NIH study sections, including as Chairman of the NHLBI Transfusion Medicine/Hemostasis Study Review Committee from 2005 to 2010. She received the National Hemophilia Foundation Physician of the Year Award in 2006 and the Physician of the Year Award from the Orange County Medical Association in 2005. Nugent has been instrumental in healthcare policy initiatives, including co-leading the California State Action Planning Initiative for Sickle Cell Disease and contributing to the passage of AB 1105, California's Sickle Cell State Planning Initiative.

Education

• M.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 1977
• B.A. in Fine Arts, University of California, Irvine, 1971

Distinctions

• Coopersmith Visiting Professorship, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins Medical School, 2010
• Women Leaders in Hematology: Inspirations & Insights, American Journal of Hematology, 2016
• National Hemophilia Foundation Physician of the Year Award, 2006
• American Cancer Society Junior Faculty Clinical Fellowship, 1984-1986
• CAL-Optima Circle of Care Award, 2011
• Best Doctors in America, Woodward/White, 1998
• Best Doctors in America, 2007-2010
• Reader's Choice Top Women in Healthcare, Orange Coast Magazine, 2019
• Academic Faculty Research Award, Bascom Hill Society of University of Wisconsin Madison, 1992
• Bruce Graber Memorial Award for Outstanding Resident in Pediatrics, University of Colorado, 1980