Diana Farid

Bio

Diana Farid MD, MPH is a physician, filmmaker, an award-winning author and poet. She is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and Faculty in the Medical Humanities and Arts Program at Stanford's School of Medicine. After earning a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies at UC Berkeley, MD at Northwestern University, and Family Medicine specialty training at UCLA, she was awarded a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Child and Family Health Leadership Fellowship, during which she earned a Masters in Public Health focused on community health and storytelling.

Since then, Diana has continued to care for patients while creating and championing the vital role of story and the arts in medicine and health. After serving as a physician consultant for television shows like Grey's Anatomy, she produced the feature length documentary film, American Rhythms, exploring the positive impact of music on elementary school student health. At Stanford, she has integrated medicine and the mediums of film, creative writing, and poetry into student and community experiences while leading and presenting arts programs across Stanford. As Assistant Director of Stanford School of Medicine’s Program in Bioethics and Film, she produced film screenings and panel discussions exploring films with vital bioethical implications. She established the first Stanford Film and Medicine Interest group for medical students to study film as a health promotion tool and has mentored medical student film projects. She produced the Stanford Medicine and the Muse, Medical Humanities and the Arts' 2018 Frankenstein@200 year-long cross-campus film screening and panel series.

Her poetry has been featured in gallery exhibits, storytelling events, anthologies, and journals. Her multi-award-winning picture book, When You Breathe (Abrams), melds respiratory science with poetry. Her novel written in verse, Wave (Abrams), celebrating medicine, music and poetry and noted as “Raw and powerful…Rich, layered and heart-rending” — Kirkus, has won numerous awards including the Cybils Award for Novel in Verse, was named a Best Middle Grade Book of 2022 by the School Library Journal, and is on state education board reading lists across the United States. Her latest picture book, The Light of Home (Scholastic) is a lyrical story about painting and belonging. Her debut board book Already All the Love (Little Bee Books) is a poem for presence. She is an Editorial Board Member for poetry for the medical humanities journal, The Pharos. This fall, she is curating a first-of-its-kind Women in Medicine participatory poem for the Stanford School of Medicine. This winter, she is co-teaching the course: Little Libraries: Improving Children’s Literacy through Service and Storytelling. For 2025-2026, she is one of the inaugural artsCatalyst Fellows of the Stanford Arts Institute.

Clinical Focus

• Family Medicine
• College Student Health
• Adolescent Health

Academic Appointments

• Clinical Associate Professor, Medicine - Vaden Health Center

Administrative Appointments

• Medical Humanities & Arts Faculty Fellowship Mentor, Medical Humanities and the Arts (Medicine & the Muse), Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics (2025 - Present)
• Stanford Arts Prescribing Program Partner, Stanford Vice President for the Arts (2024 - Present)
• Affiliated Faculty, Medical Humanities & the Arts (Medicine & the Muse), Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics (2016 - Present)
• Assistant Director of the Program in Bioethics and Film, Medical Humanities & the Arts (Medicine & the Muse), Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics (2017 - 2019)

Honors & Awards

• artsCatalyst Fellowship, Stanford Arts Institute (2025-2026)
• Louisiana Young Readers Choice Award Nominee, WAVE, Louisiana State Library (2025)
• Top 10 Diverse Children’s Books of 2024, ALREADY ALL THE LOVE, Biracial Bookworms | Kid Lit TV (2024)
• Best of 2024, ALREADY ALL THE LOVE, Bookstagang (2024)
• Hot Off the Press List, ALREADY ALL THE LOVE, Children’s Book Council (2024)
• Editors’ Pick and #1 New Release, ALREADY ALL THE LOVE, Amazon (2024)
• Best New Books Grade 1, THE LIGHT OF HOME, Scholastic Education (2024)
• Children's Book Committee's Best Children's Books of the Year, WAVE, Children's Book Committee (2023)
• California Department of Education Recommended Reading List, WAVE, CA Department of Education (2023)
• A Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year, 2022, WAVE, Bank Street College of Education (2023)
• Middle East Book Award Honoree, WAVE, Middle East Outreach Council (2023)
• Northern California Book Award Nominee, Best Middle Grade Book, WAVE, Northern California Book Reviewers (2023)
• MISelf in Books Selection, WAVE, Michigan Association of Media in Education (2022)
• SLJ Best Middle Grade Books Honor, WAVE, School Library Journal (2022)
• Cybils Award for Poetry Novel, WAVE, Children's and Young Adult Book Lovers' Literary Awards (2022)
• Golden Poppy Award Finalist, Middle Grade, WAVE, California Independent Booksellers Alliance (2022)
• Golden Poppy Award Finalist, Mirrors and Windows, WAVE, California Independent Booksellers Alliance (2022)
• JLG Gold Standard Selection, WAVE, Junior Library Guild (2022)
• EUREKA! Nonfiction Children’s Book Gold Award, WHEN YOU BREATHE, California Reading Association (2021)
• Illustration Awards Shortlist, WHEN YOU BREATHE, Communication Arts (2021)
• Notable Poetry Book, WHEN YOU BREATHE, National Council of Teachers of English (2021)
• Maternal and Child Health Leadership Fellowship, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2003-2005)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

• Editorial Board, The Pharos, Medical Humanities Journal (2023 - Present)
• Member, Women In Medicine Working Group, Stanford Department of Medicine (2021 - 2021)
• Member, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Stanford Department of Medicine (2020 - Present)
• Member, Clinician Educator Advisory Committee, Stanford Department of Medicine (2020 - 2023)
• Member, Finance Strategy Committee, Medicine & the Muse, Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics (2018 - 2019)
• Member, Steering Committee, Medicine & the Muse, Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics (2017 - 2020)
• Member, The Pegasus Physician Writers at Stanford (2016 - Present)
• Film Series Producer and Steering Committee Member, Frankenstein@200 Steering Committee, Medical Humanities & Arts (Medicine & the Muse), Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics (2016 - 2018)
• Associate Member, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (2013 - Present)

Professional Education

• Fellowship: UCLA-Child and Family Health Leadership Training Program (2005) CA
• Residency: UCLA-Santa Monica (2003) CA
• Internship: University of California San Diego (2001) CA
• Medical Education: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (2000) IL
• Masters in Public Health, UCLA, Public Health, Community Health, Health Communications (2005)
• Board Certification: American Board of Family Medicine, Family Medicine (2003)