Diana Felton

Diana Felton, MD is an ER Physician and Medical Toxicologist currently serving as Chief of the Hawaii Department of Health’s Communicable Disease and Public Health Nursing Division (CDPHND). CDPHND works to identify and eliminate tuberculosis, Hansen’s disease, HIV, STIs, and hepatitis in Hawaii and also incorporates the work of DOH’s Public Health Nurses in the community. She previously served as the State Toxicologist for the Hawaii Department of Health’s Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response (HEER) Office.

As the toxicologist, Dr. Felton was responsible for evaluating human health effects from chemical contamination and hazardous substances in Hawaii. This includes a wide array of hazards from childhood lead poisoning, volcanic emissions, industrial waste, contaminants in fish such as mercury, PCBs, and PFAS, as well as hazards resulting from natural and man-made disasters. Dr. Felton also has a strong interest in the intersection of climate change and health including how environmental impacts from climate change will affect human health and disease. Dr. Felton graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and attended medical school at the University of California, Davis. Emergency Medicine Residency was done at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA and Toxicology Fellowship at the Harvard Medical Toxicology Program. She spent many years working as an ER physician and toxicologist in Massachusetts and Hawaii before transitioning to state government work in 2018.