Dr. Dian Baker, PhD, NP, RN earned her PhD from the University of Hawaii. She is Professor Emeritus at the School of Nursing, California State University, Sacramento, and currently serves as Professor in the Department of Nursing at the University of the Pacific.

Dr. Baker has conducted research on the prevention of non-ventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia (NV-HAP) for over a decade, working with research teams in hospitals worldwide. She served as a consultant for the Veterans Health Administration's National HAPPEN pneumonia prevention through oral care program and currently consults with the CDC's EpiCenter NEVER project, which focuses on NV-HAP research. Dr. Baker co-authored a chapter on oral health status and the etiology and prevention of non-ventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia in Periodontology 2000 with Dr. Frank Scannapieco and Dr. Karen Giuliano.