In Memoriam: Diane Edmund Griffin, 1940-2024

Diane Edmund Griffin, chair emeritus of the W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, passed away on October 25. She was 84 years old.

In 1970, Dr. Griffin began her career with Johns Hopkins as a virology fellow in the School of Medicine. She earned the rank of full professor in 1985. Nine years later, she was appointed chair of the department of immunology. She led the department for over two decades, overseeing its renaming to the department of molecular microbiology and immunology. She also founded the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and served as its director for six years.

Over the course of her career, Dr. Griffin conducted extensive research on numerous infectious diseases, including measles, HIV, and malaria. She was a frequent research participant and consultant to several institutions, including the the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the World Health Organization. She had stints as president of the American Society for Virology and the American Society for Microbiology. At the time of her death, she was vice president of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Griffin was a graduate of Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, where she majored in biology. She earned her medical degree and Ph.D. in microbiology from Stanford University.