Dr. Diana Farmer is Professor of Clinical Surgery, Pediatrics, and Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, Division Chief of Pediatric Surgery, and Vice-Chair of the  Department of Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. She is also Surgeon-in-Chief of the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. She completed her undergraduate studies in Marine Sciences at Wellesley College and received her MD from the University of Washington in Seattle where she subsequently did her internship. Her general surgery residency training was completed at the University of California, San Francisco, and her Pediatric Surgical training was completed at the Children's Hospital of Michigan before returning to UCSF as a faculty member in 1998.

The world's first female fetal surgeon, Dr. Farmer is currently the principal investigator of a multicenter NIH trial on the treatment of spina bifida in the womb. She has been honored at UCSF as a recipient of the Outstanding Women Faculty Chancellor's Recognition Award and the Department of Surgery's Excellence in Teaching Award. Her career also includes being on faculty at the National University of Singapore as a Luce Scholar, and the Director of the Department of Surgery's international collaboration with Makerere University in Uganda. In 2010, Dr. Farmer was inducted as a fellow into the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCSE), becoming only the second US female surgeon to be bestowed this prestigious honor.

Dr. Farmer's research interests include fetal therapy interventions for myelomeningocele (spina bifida) and gastroschisis. She is well recognized for her expertise in complex surgical repair of thoracic, airway, and intestinal anomalies as well as for cancer surgery in neonatal, pediatric, and adolescent patients. In addition, Dr. Farmer is an integral member of the Fetal Treatment Center team, skilled in the surgical care of fetal patients with life-threatening congenital anomalies. In particular, she spearheads the research to evaluate the safety and efficacy of in utero endoscopic repair of myelomeningocele (spina bifida), and is Co-Investigator on a number of  fetal surgical clinical trials.

Dr. Farmer practices pediatric surgery at UCSF, California Pacific Medical Center, and Kaiser Permanente San Francisco. She and her pediatric surgery colleagues provide consultation and follow up care of surgical patients at the Parnassus campus of UCSF Benioff  Children's Hospital.