Diane Frances Merritt, MD obtained her Doctor of Medicine degree from New York University School of Medicine in 1975 and post-doctoral training in both General Surgery and Obstetrics & Gynecology at Barnes Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine from 1975-1980. She joined the Faculty of Washington University in 1980 and rose to the rank of Full Professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, becoming the first fulltime woman professor of OBGYN in the history of the medical school.
Passionate about the reproductive health of young women and children, Dr. Merritt established the first program in Pediatric & Adolescent Gynecology (PAG) at Washington University in 1982 and served as the Pediatric & Adolescent Gynecologist-in-Chief at St Louis Children’s Hospital for four decades. She pioneered and championed detorsion and preservation of torsed adnexa in pediatric and adult patients, publishing that detorsion of the adnexa did not lead to emboli as previously thought. Dr. Merritt dedicated her academic career to advancing the field of Pediatric Gynecology by publishing classic articles, mentoring trainees, and lecturing nationally and internationally.
Dr. Merritt was a founding member of the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (NASPAG) serving on the Board and as President. She served on the CREOG Examination Committee and Chaired the Committee on Adolescent Health Care for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She was a member of the Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee of the United States Food and Drug Administration.
She was course director for OBGYN for junior medical students. She served on the Executive Committee of the Faculty Council (ECFC) of the medical school, on the Faculty Senate Council of Washington University, and the Washington University Academic and Freedom and Tenure Committee. She was President of the School of Medicine’s Academic Women’s Network (AWN), established to promote career development, professional interactions and to mentor women in academic careers in science and medicine. She was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honorary society. Dr. Merritt received the Humanism in Medicine Award, the Distinguished Clinician Faculty Award, and the Resident Fellow Alumni Achievement Award from Washington University School of Medicine.
Dr. Merritt retired after serving 45 years as a clinician educator and is Professor Emerita of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine. She and her husband Sándor J. Kovács, PhD, MD, raised three children together and are now happy grandparents.