Diana L. Farmer | |
---|---|
Spouse | Charles Cauldwell (m. 1983) |
Academic background | |
Education | BSc, marine studies and molecular biology, 1977, Wellesley College MD, University of Washington School of Medicine |
Academic work | |
Institutions | University of California,Davis University of California,San Francisco |
Diana L. Farmer is an American pediatric surgeon. She is the Pearl Stamps Stewart Professor of Surgery and chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of California,Davis and surgeon-in-chief of UC Davis Children's Hospital. In 2010,Farmer was inducted as a fellow into the Royal College of Surgeons of England,becoming the second woman surgeon from the United States to receive this honor.
Farmer grew up in Chicago and Boise,Idaho,to a flight attendant mother and Navy fighter pilot father. [1] Her grandfather was a surgeon in Nebraska who graduated from the now defunct National University of St. Louis. [2] Upon completing her Bachelor of Science degree in marine sciences and molecular biology from Wellesley College,Farmer conducted research at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. [3] As a result,she was named a Rhodes Scholar finalist. While driving to her interview,she was involved in a car accident and chose to pursue a career in medicine while recovering from her injuries. [1] She earned her M.D. from the University of Washington School of Medicine in 1983,where she also completed her internship. [4] She finished her residency at the University of California,San Francisco (UCSF) in 1993 where she was introduced to fetal surgery. [1] After a surgical fellowship in Michigan,Farmer was awarded a Luce Scholarship to study medicine in Asia and moved to Singapore with her husband. [3]
In 1988,Farmer returned to UCSF and became the first female fetal surgeon. [1] As the UCSF Children’s Hospital Surgeon-in-Chief,Farmer’s research interests include fetal therapy interventions for myelomeningocele and other birth defects. In January 2010,Farmer was inducted as a fellow into the Royal College of Surgeons of England,becoming the second woman surgeon from the United States to receive this honor. [5] The following year,she was also elected a Member of the National Academy of Medicine. [6]
Upon joining the faculty of University of California,Davis,Farmer became the Pearl Stamps Stewart Professor of Surgery and chair of the Department of Surgery and surgeon-in-chief of UC Davis Children's Hospital. In February 2019,she was elected to the Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons. [7] While serving in these roles,Farmer continued her research into curing spina bifida. In 2019,Farmer and Aijun Wang identified exosomes and galectin 1 as key to protecting neurons and ultimately reducing the lower-limb paralysis associated with the birth defect. [8] Due to her research,Farmer won a 2020 U21 Award for advancing global perspectives in her field. [9] She was later awarded a grant to co-launch the world’s first human clinical trial using stem cells to treat spina bifida with Aijun Wang. [10] The following year,Farmer became the third woman named president-elect of the American Surgical Association. [11]
Farmer married her husband Charles Cauldwell in 1983. [1]
The University of California,San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco,California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It conducts research and teaching in medical and biological sciences.
Spina bifida is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the spine and the membranes around the spinal cord during early development in pregnancy. There are three main types:spina bifida occulta,meningocele and myelomeningocele. Meningocele and myelomeningocele may be grouped as spina bifida cystica. The most common location is the lower back,but in rare cases it may be in the middle back or neck.
Hand of Hope is a 1999 medical photograph taken by Michael Clancy during open fetal surgery,showing the hand of the fetus extending from the incision in the mother's uterus and seeming to grasp a surgeon's finger. Clancy was documenting a procedure being developed at Vanderbilt University to treat spina bifida. The photograph was taken on 19 August and the baby was safely delivered on 2 December.
The University of California,Irvine Medical Center is a major research hospital located in Orange,California. It is the teaching hospital for the University of California,Irvine School of Medicine.
Fetal surgery also known as antenatal surgery,prenatal surgery,is a growing branch of maternal-fetal medicine that covers any of a broad range of surgical techniques that are used to treat congenital abnormalities in fetuses who are still in the pregnant uterus. There are three main types:open fetal surgery,which involves completely opening the uterus to operate on the fetus;minimally invasive fetoscopic surgery,which uses small incisions and is guided by fetoscopy and sonography;and percutaneous fetal therapy,which involves placing a catheter under continuous ultrasound guidance.
Kyprianos "Kypros" Nicolaides is a Greek Cypriot physician of British citizenship,Professor of Fetal Medicine at King's College Hospital,London. He is one of the pioneers of fetal medicine and his discoveries have revolutionised the field. He was elected to the US National Academy of Medicine in 2020 for 'improving the care of pregnant women worldwide with pioneering rigorous and creative approaches,and making seminal contributions to prenatal diagnosis and every major obstetrical disorder'. This is considered to be one of the highest honours in the fields of health and medicine and recognises individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.
The Fetal Treatment Center at the University of California,San Francisco is a multidisciplinary care center dedicated to the diagnosis,treatment,and long-term follow-up of fetal birth defects. It combines the talents of specialists in pediatric surgery,genetics,obstetrics/perinatology,radiology,nursing,and neonatal medicine.
June Lee is an adjunct professor in the UCSF School of Medicine,biotech executive,and medical doctor with expertise in pulmonary,critical care medicine and translational research.
The MOMS Trial was a clinical trial that studied treatment of a birth defect called myelomeningocele,which is the most severe form of spina bifida. The study looked at prenatal and postnatal surgery to repair this defect. The first major phase concluded that prenatal surgery had strong,long-term benefits and some risks.
Sue Desmond-Hellmann is an American oncologist and biotechnology leader who served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation from 2014 to 2020. In March 2024 she was elected as a board member of OpenAI. She was previously Chancellor of the University of California,San Francisco (UCSF),the first woman to hold the position,and Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Distinguished Professor,and before that president of product development at Genentech,where she played a role in the development of the first gene-targeted cancer drugs,Avastin and Herceptin.
Karin Marie Muraszko is an American pediatric neurosurgeon.
Griffith Rutherford Harsh IV is an American neurosurgeon,Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University of California,Davis,and former Julian R. Youmans Endowed Chair of the department. Dr. Harsh also led the UC Davis School of Medicine and UC Davis Health faculty as Chair of the Council of Department Chairs. Currently,he maintains his academic appointment at UC Davis and holds visiting professorships at the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University,while living in Nairobi with his wife,Meg Whitman,the US Ambassador to Kenya.
The UCSF School of Medicine is the medical school of the University of California,San Francisco and is located at the base of Mount Sutro on the Parnassus Heights campus in San Francisco,California. Founded in 1864 by Hugh Toland,it is the oldest medical school in California and in the western United States. U.S. News &World Report ranked the school fifth in research training and fifth in primary care training. Six members of the UCSF faculty have received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and five have received the National Medal of Science.
UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is an NCI-designated Cancer Center,affiliated with the UCSF School of Medicine and the UCSF Medical Center. It is one of 69 cancer research institutions in the United States supported by the National Cancer Institute,and one of three in Northern California. The HDFCCC integrates basic and clinical science,patient care,and population science to address prevention and early detection of cancer as well as the quality of life following diagnosis and treatment.
Julie Ann Sosa is a professor and chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of California,San Francisco (UCSF) and holds the Leon Goldman,MD,Distinguished Professorship in Surgery. She currently serves as the Treasurer of the American Thyroid Association and Editor-in-Chief of the World Journal of Surgery.
Carys Margaret Bannister was the second female neurosurgeon to be appointed in the United Kingdom. Born in Brazil to Welsh parents,she moved to England as a teenager and trained in surgery after qualifying as a doctor. She spent most of her career as a consultant neurosurgeon at North Manchester General Hospital and as a researcher at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. She specialised in treating disorders of the cerebral circulation,spina bifida,and hydrocephalus.
Andre R. Campbell is an American physician. He is a Professor of Surgery and the Vice Chair for Diversity,Equity,and Inclusion at the University of California,San Francisco.
Nancy L. Ascher is an American surgeon,and the first woman to perform a liver transplant. Ascher specializes in transplant surgery,focusing on end-stage kidney disease,kidney transplantation,non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and liver transplantation.
Julie Ann Freischlag is an American vascular surgeon and current CEO of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. She was the first female surgeon-in-chief of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and the first female chief of vascular surgery at the University of California,Los Angeles. In 2017,Freischlag was appointed Interim Dean of Wake Forest School of Medicine and CEO of the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. During the COVID-19 pandemic in North America,Freischlag was named chief academic officer of Atrium Health,Inc.,and appointed the President-Elect of the American College of Surgeons.
Timothy Brei is a professor of neurodevelopmental pediatrics at the University of Washington and a developmental pediatrician at Seattle Children's Hospital. He is also the medical director of the Spina Bifida Association of America. Brei's research has focused on healthcare outcomes for children with spina bifida and as an adult with spina bifida who is an uncommon leader,he has also served as an advocate.