Investigator Profile: Farhood Farjah, MD, MPH, FACS
Farhood Farjah, MD, MPH, FACS
Endowed Chair in Lung Cancer Research
Associate Professor of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Associate Medical Director, Surgical Outcomes Research Center
Dr. Farjah is a thoracic surgeon, scientist, and educator dedicated to improving healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. One area of his interest is optimizing the use of diagnostics throughout the lung cancer care continuum (e.g. screening, staging, and surveillance). His team has tackled this area of interest through comparative-effectiveness research and development and validatoin of risk-prediction models that facilitate individualized care and maximize value. Another area of interest is quality improvement research in thoracic oncology. Lastly, he enjoys teaching and mentoring the next generation of clinicians and scientists.
Matthew Banegas, PhD, MPH; University of California, San Diego
Dejana Braithwaite, PhD; University of Florida
Diana Buist, PhD; Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
David R. Flum; MD MPH, University of Washington
Robert Greenlee, PhD, MPH; Marshfield Clinical Research Institute
Michael Gould, MD, MS; Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine
Patrick Heagerty, PhD; University of Washington
Nader Massarweh, MD, MPH; Baylor College of Medicine
Michael S. Mulligan, MD; University of Washington/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
Rebecca Smith-Bindman, MD; University of California, San Francisco
Matthew Triplette, MD, MPH; University of Washington/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
Douglas E. Wood, MD; University of Washington/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
Research Project Grant (NCI R01 CA249506; co-I)
Research Project Grant (NCI R01CA207375; PI)
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (Contract 1409-24099; co-I)
Fred Hutch/UW Cancer Center Support Grant (5P30 CA015704-40; Development Funds)
American College of Chest Physicians CHEST Foundation Clinical Research in Lung Cancer (PI)
Cancer Research Network Pilot Grant (co-PI)
Cancer Research Network Scholars Program (Scholar)
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NCI F32 CA130434-01)
Cancer Epidemiology and Biostatistics Training Grant (T32 CA09168-30)
NIH Clinical Research Training Program (K30 RR022293-07)
- Farjah F, Symons RG, Krishnadasan B, Wood DE, Flum DR. Management of pleural space infections: a population-based analysis. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2007 Feb;133(2):346-51. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2006.09.038. Epub 2006 Dec 29. PMID: 17258562.
- Farjah F, Wood DE, Yanez ND 3rd, Vaughan TL, Symons RG, Krishnadasan B, Flum DR. Racial disparities among patients with lung cancer who were recommended operative therapy. Arch Surg. 2009 Jan;144(1):14-8. doi: 10.1001/archsurg.2008.519. PMID: 19153319; PMCID: PMC2688646.
- Farjah F, Flum DR, Ramsey SD, Heagerty PJ, Symons RG, Wood DE. Multi-modality mediastinal staging for lung cancer among medicare beneficiaries. J Thorac Oncol. 2009 Mar;4(3):355-63. doi: 10.1097/JTO.0b013e318197f4d9. PMID: 19156000; PMCID: PMC2726111.
- Farjah F, Flum DR, Varghese TK Jr, Symons RG, Wood DE. Surgeon specialty and long-term survival after pulmonary resection for lung cancer. Ann Thorac Surg. 2009 Apr;87(4):995-1004; discussion 1005-6. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2008.12.030. PMID: 19324119.
- Farjah F, Wood DE, Mulligan MS, Krishnadasan B, Heagerty PJ, Symons RG, Flum DR. Safety and efficacy of video-assisted versus conventional lung resection for lung cancer. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2009 Jun;137(6):1415-21. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2008.11.035. Epub 2009 Mar 9. PMID: 19464458.
- Farjah F, Wood DE, Varghese TK, Massarweh NN, Symons RG, Flum DR. Health care utilization among surgically treated Medicare beneficiaries with lung cancer. Ann Thorac Surg. 2009 Dec;88(6):1749-56. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2009.08.006. PMID: 19932230.
- Farjah F, Lou F, Rusch VW, Rizk NP. The quality metric prolonged length of stay misses clinically important adverse events. Ann Thorac Surg. 2012 Sep;94(3):881-7; discussion 887-8. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2012.04.082. Epub 2012 Jun 27. PMID: 22742847.
- Farjah F, Lou F, Sima C, Rusch VW, Rizk NP. A prediction model for pathologic N2 disease in lung cancer patients with a negative mediastinum by positron emission tomography. J Thorac Oncol. 2013 Sep;8(9):1170-80. doi: 10.1097/JTO.0b013e3182992421. PMID: 23945387.
- Farjah F, Varghese TK, Costas K, Krishnadasan B, Farivar AS, Hubka M, Louie BE, Backhus LM, Chong N, Gorden J, Cheng AM, He H, Flum DR, Low D, Aye R, Vallières E, Mulligan MS, Wood DE. Lung resection outcomes and costs in Washington State: a case for regional quality improvement. Ann Thorac Surg. 2014 Jul;98(1):175-81; discussion 182. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2014.03.014. Epub 2014 May 1. PMID: 24793691.
- Farjah F, Backhus LM, Varghese TK, Mulligan MS, Cheng AM, Alfonso-Cristancho R, Flum DR, Wood DE. Ninety-day costs of video-assisted thoracic surgery versus open lobectomy for lung cancer. Ann Thorac Surg. 2014 Jul;98(1):191-6. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2014.03.024. Epub 2014 May 10. PMID: 24820393.
- Farjah F, Backhus L, Cheng A, Englum B, Kim S, Saha-Chaudhuri P, Wood DE, Mulligan MS, Varghese TK. Failure to rescue and pulmonary resection for lung cancer. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2015 May;149(5):1365-71; discussion 1371-3.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2015.01.063. Epub 2015 Feb 11. PMID: 25791948.
- Flanagan MR, Varghese TK Jr, Backhus LM, Wood DE, Mulligan MS, Cheng AM, Flum DR, Farjah F. Gaps in Guideline-Concordant Use of Diagnostic Tests Among Lung Cancer Patients. Ann Thorac Surg. 2015 Dec;100(6):2006-12. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2015.08.010. Epub 2015 Oct 24. PMID: 26507425; PMCID: PMC4870002.
- Simianu VV, Varghese TK Jr, Flanagan MR, Flum DR, Shankaran V, Oelschlager BK, Mulligan MS, Wood DE, Pellegrini CA, Farjah F. Positron emission tomography for initial staging of esophageal cancer among medicare beneficiaries. J Gastrointest Oncol. 2016 Jun;7(3):395-402. doi: 10.21037/jgo.2015.10.03. PMID: 27284472; PMCID: PMC4880761.
- Thornblade LW, Cheng AM, Wood DE, Mulligan MS, Saunders MD, He H, Oelschlager BK, Flum DR, Farjah F. A Nationwide Rise in the Use of Stents for Benign Esophageal Perforation. Ann Thorac Surg. 2017 Jul;104(1):227-233. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2017.03.069. Epub 2017 Jun 1. PMID: 28577842; PMCID: PMC5546797.
- Ehlers AP, Oelschlager BK, Pellegrini CA, Wright AS, Saunders MD, Flum DR, He H, Farjah F. Achalasia Treatment, Outcomes, Utilization, and Costs: A Population-Based Study from the United States. J Am Coll Surg. 2017 Sep;225(3):380-386. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2017.05.014. Epub 2017 Jun 7. PMID: 28602724; PMCID: PMC5599146.
- Thornblade LW, Wood DE, Mulligan MS, Farivar AS, Hubka M, Costas KE, Krishnadasan B, Farjah F; SCOAP-CERTAIN Collaborative. Variability in invasive mediastinal staging for lung cancer: A multicenter regional study. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2018 Jun;155(6):2658-2671.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2017.12.138. Epub 2018 Feb 9. PMID: 29534904; PMCID: PMC6487876.
- Krantz SB, Howington JA, Wood DE, Kim KW, Kosinski AS, Cox ML, Kim S, Mulligan MS, Farjah F. Invasive Mediastinal Staging for Lung Cancer by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Database Participants. Ann Thorac Surg. 2018 Oct;106(4):1055-1062. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2018.05.012. Epub 2018 Jun 5. PMID: 29883646.
- Thornblade LW, Mulligan MS, Odem-Davis K, Hwang B, Waworuntu RL, Wolff EM, Kessler L, Wood DE, Farjah F. Challenges in Predicting Recurrence After Resection of Node-Negative Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Ann Thorac Surg. 2018 Nov;106(5):1460-1467. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2018.06.022. Epub 2018 Jul 19. PMID: 30031845; PMCID: PMC6347463.
- Verdial FC, Madtes DK, Hwang B, Mulligan MS, Odem-Davis K, Waworuntu R, Wood DE, Farjah F. Prediction Model for Nodal Disease Among Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Ann Thorac Surg. 2019 Jun;107(6):1600-1606. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2018.12.041. Epub 2019 Jan 30. PMID: 30710518; PMCID: PMC6535349.
- Verdial FC, Berfield KS, Wood DE, Mulligan MS, Roth JA, Francis DO, Farjah F. Safety and Costs of Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Nodal Aspiration and Mediastinoscopy. Chest. 2020 Mar;157(3):686-693. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2019.09.021. Epub 2019 Oct 9. PMID: 31605700; PMCID: PMC7609959.
- Verdial FC, Madtes DK, Cheng GS, Pipavath S, Kim R, Hubbard JJ, Zadworny M, Wood DE, Farjah F. Multidisciplinary Team-Based Management of Incidentally Detected Lung Nodules. Chest. 2020 Apr;157(4):985-993. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2019.11.032. Epub 2019 Dec 17. PMID: 31862440; PMCID: PMC7268436.
- Monu J, Triplette M, Wood DE, Wolff EM, Lavallee DC, Flum DR, Farjah F. Evaluating Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs About Lung Cancer Screening Using Crowdsourcing. Chest. 2020 Jul;158(1):386-392. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2019.12.048. Epub 2020 Feb 7. PMID: 32035910.
- Farjah F, Grau-Sepulveda MV, Gaissert H, Block M, Grogan E, Brown LM, Kosinski AS, Kozower BD. Volume Pledge is Not Associated with Better Short-Term Outcomes After Lung Cancer Resection. J Clin Oncol. 2020 Oct 20;38(30):3518-3527. doi: 10.1200/JCO.20.00329. Epub 2020 Aug 7. PMID: 32762615.
- Farjah F, Monsell SE, Gould MK, Smith-Bindman R, Banegas MP, Heagerty PJ, Keast EM, Ramaprasan A, Schoen K, Brewer EG, Greenlee RT, Buist DSM. Association of the Intensity of Diagnostic Evaluation With Outcomes in Incidentally Detected Lung Nodules. JAMA Intern Med. 2021 Apr 1;181(4):480-489. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.8250. PMID: 33464296; PMCID: PMC7816118.
- Monu JI, Achar C, Wood DE, Flum DR, Agrawal N, Farjah F. Psychological Traits and the Persuasiveness of Lung Cancer Screening Health Messages. Ann Thorac Surg. 2021 May 3:S0003-4975(21)00761-X. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2021.04.047. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33957098.