Eric R Frykberg MD Lecture

Diana L. Farmer, M.D. Chair of the UC Davis Department of Surgery

Diana L. Farmer, an internationally renowned fetal and neonatal surgeon, is chair of the Department of Surgery at UC Davis Health, where she oversees more than 250 faculty, volunteer clinical faculty, post-doctoral fellows, residents, students and staff who provide highly skilled, specialty services in bariatric, burn, cardiothoracic, gastrointestinal, plastic and reconstructive, oncology, transplant, trauma and vascular surgery.

A recognized leader in pediatric surgery, Farmer is known for her skilled surgical treatment of congenital anomalies and for her expertise in cancer, airway and intestinal surgeries in newborns and for her investigations on the safety and effectiveness of providing spina bifida treatments before birth. She is researching a novel stem cell therapy for repairing damaged neural tissue in spina bifida patients. Farmer has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed research articles, including studies of neuroblastoma, Chiari II malformation, twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, fetal trauma and necrotizing enterocolitis.