Photo by Diane Helentjaris

You can usually find writer and photographer Diane busily working in and around her home base of northern Virginia. She loves this gorgeous Blue Ridge Piedmont and no one is surprised to find its people and viewscapes starring in her writing and photos. Her articles, many featuring artists, women, nonconformists and other often overlooked gems, are in print and online. Active in the writing community, Diane is a member of the Hellenic Writers Group of Washington, DC, James River Writers, Maryland Writers Association, Pennwriters, and Round Hill Writers Group. She speaks to and writes for other writers about the craft, delving into ethics, the writing process and article writing. She served as a 2019, 2020, and 2021 judge in the Pennwriters Annual Writing Competition. Diane  was a 2020 Finalist in the Iceland Writers Retreat Alumni Award.

A photographer since childhood, Diane often illustrate her publications with her work. Her images are popular with others needing just the right image to help tell their story.  Diane’s award-winning photographs are exhibited nationally. Diane is currently a featured photographer for Unsplash and Getty’s iStock. Within the first month of sharing a small (less than forty) collection of her photos on the Unsplash site, her images rose to be in the top ten percent of traffic. Within the first three months, her popular photos garnered over 500,000 views and over 1800 downloads. At last count, her photos average over a million views each month.

Born and raised in southern Ohio, Diane was educated in the cold of Michigan and Quebec. She earned her BA cum laude in Interdisciplinary Humanities at Michigan State University, studied science at McGill University in Montreal, then returned to MSU to earn her M.D. She went on to obtain her Masters in Public Health (with an emphasis on health policy and administration) from the University of Michigan.

As a physician, Diane Helentjaris was the national President of the American Medical Women’s Association. She represented the organization in multiple national health advocacy activities  including national media interviews, White House and Congressional meetings and testifying to the FDA. During her service with the Virginia Department of Health, she served as the Maternal Child Health Director, Director of Family Health Services, and Director of H1N1 Response. She received Our Health’s Annual Award of Excellence and Community Leadership.  She enjoyed teaching graduate-level public health management at V,irginia Commonwealth University. An accomplished  spokeswoman to the national, regional and local media, she has discussed public health, woman’s health, and health advocacy matters.

Diane Helentjaris can help you with your writing needs. This service includes ghostwriting, blog posts, grant submission editing, and white papers. She also is available for virtual speaking engagements and book club discussions. Contact Diane directly at helentjari@aol.com.