Diana Mercedes Cejas
Born1981
NationalityAmerican
Alma materAppalachian State University, BS, Biology, 2003

University of North Carolina at Charlotte, BA, Physics, 2005

Howard University, MD, 2010

Pediatric Residency Program, Tulane University School of Medicine, 2013

Masters of Public Health, Maternal and Child Health, George Washington University, 2014

Child Neurology Residency Training Program, University of Chicago, 2017
AwardsBroyhill Research Award in Child Neurology, 2020

Finalist, PEN Center USA Award for Creative Nonfiction, 2023

Elected Board Member of the Child Neurology Society 2022-2024
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Diana M. Cejas is an American pediatric neurologist, author and disability advocate, currently working at the University of North Carolina and the Carolina Institute of Developmental Disabilities.

Early life, medical school and disability

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Cejas was born in Virginia but grew up in Rougemont, North Carolina.[1]

While Cejas was a medical student at Howard University, she found a lump on her neck. Dismissed by her medical providers, she was not diagnosed with cancer until her second year of residency. After the second surgery for her cancer, she had a stroke, which left her with residual dysarthria and hemiparesis.[1][2][3] She struggled during her residency due to lack of accommodations for disabled physicians.[4]

Career

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Cejas works at the University of North Carolina as a pediatric neurologist and assistant professor. She has a dual appointment at the Carolina Institute of Developmental Disabilities where she sees children with developmental disabilities.[5]

She is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and was selected for the Diversity Leadership Program in 2022. She co-created the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force of the Child Neurology Society in 2021[6] and was elected to the board as the Councilor from the South for 2022-2024.[7]

Cejas is on the advisory committee for the Docs with Disabilities Initiative.[8] She also sits on the advisory panel of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) on Healthcare Delivery and Disparities Research.[9]

Her work has been published in literary magazines including The Iowa Review, Ecotone,[10] and Passages North;[11] and anthologies including Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century[12] and A Measure of Belonging: Twenty-One Writers of Color on the New American South.[13] She is currently working on a collection of essays describing her life as a physician and a patient.[10]

Personal life

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Cejas is Black, Latina, and disabled.

Honors, societies, and awards

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Selected works

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Peer-reviewed Articles

Creative Nonfiction

Selected Work on Disability and Advocacy

References

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  1. ^ a b CBS News (27 April 2016). "Doctor who survived cancer, stroke: "I was there... Maybe I can help"". Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  2. ^ "The Lingering Lump, Diana Cejas' Story - Patient Stories". Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Why This Doctor Is Fighting for Her Patients' Pain to Be Taken More Seriously". Teen Vogue. 10 November 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  4. ^ Lu, Wendy (22 July 2021). "Disabled Doctors Were Called Too 'Weak' To Be In Medicine. It's Hurting The Entire System". Huffpost. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Diana M. Cejas, MD, MPH". Department of Neurology. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  6. ^ Brumback, Audrey; Wilson, Rujuta; Augustine, Erika; Bass, Nancy; Bassuk, Alexander; Cejas, Diana; Shellhaas, Renee; Strober, Jonathan; Tilton, Ann; Pearl, Phillip (October 2021). "Introducing the Child Neurology Society Leadership, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force". Annals of Neurology. 90 (4): 537–538. doi:10.1002/ana.26176. hdl:2027.42/170226. PMID 34288089.
  7. ^ "CNS BOARD OF DIRECTORS". Child Neurology Society. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Diana Cejas, MD". Docs with Disabilities Initiative. 12 April 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Experiences as a Patient Inspire Advocacy Work of New Physician Member of HDDR Advisory Panel". PCORI: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  10. ^ a b Cejas, Diana. "In the Blood". Ecotone. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  11. ^ Cejas, Diana (7 June 2019). "Human Growth and Development". Passages North.
  12. ^ Wong, Alice [ed] (2020). Disability Visibility FIRST-PERSON STORIES FROM THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 9781984899422. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
  13. ^ "Stanford Medicine Alliance for Disability Inclusion and Equity Discussion Group". Stanford Medicine Lane Medical Library. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  14. ^ "Hunter, Cejas Receive 2020 Broyhill Research Award in Child Neurology". Newsroom. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2023.


References

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