Rochelle Diamond is a research biologist and chair emeritus of Out to Innovate. Diamond earned a dual bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and in 1978 was a member of the City of Hope/Genentech research team that cloned the human gene for insulin. In 1981 she lost her job at the City of Hope Research Institute because a coworker discovered she was gay. Not wanting any others to experience this, she helped start Out to Innovate, previous known as the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP), a professional society and global community of LGBTQ+ students and professionals in STEM. She is the currently the Director of the Flow Cytometry/Cell Sorting Facility at CalTech.
