ACS Regent Dr. Diana Farmer elected President-Elect of American Surgical Association

In recognition of a career dedicated to surgery, American College of Surgeons (ACS) Regent Diana L. Farmer, MD, FACS, FRCS, recently was elected president-elect of the American Surgical Association (ASA). She will be only the third woman surgeon elected to this position in the ASA’s more than 140-year history.

Dr. Farmer, an internationally-renowned pediatric and fetal surgeon, is the Pearl Stamps Stewart Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor and Chair, department of surgery, University of California (UC) Davis School of Medicine. She is surgeon-in-chief, UC Davis Children’s Hospital and chief of surgery, Shriners Hospitals for Children, Sacramento. She is known for her skilled surgical treatment of congenital anomalies, her expertise in cancer, airway, and intestinal surgeries in newborns, and her investigations on the safety and effectiveness of providing spina bifida treatments before birth.

Within the ACS, Dr. Farmer has served as a Regent since 2019; as Chair of the Board of Governors (2016−2018); and in several other leadership positions within the College, including the ACS Advisory Council for Pediatric Surgery, the Board of Governors Quality Pillars, and the Program Committee, among others. She is past-president of the Society of Surgical Chairs (2016−2017), which the ACS manages, and a member since 2010. A distinguished fetal stem cell scientist, she was the 2017 Owen Wangensteen Surgical Forum Dedicatee.

Read more about Dr. Farmer’s achievements.