David J. Farrar, PhD Director, Research and Scientific Affairs Abbott Pleasanton, CA
Dr. Farrar joined Thoratec Laboratories Corp in 1980 and initiated the first clinical trial with the Thoratec Ventricular Assist Device System in 1982, obtaining FDA approval for bridge to transplant in 1995. He has over 40 years of experience in cardiovascular research and mechanical circulatory support devices. From 1982-1996, he also had joint appointments as Director of Research in the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the California Pacific Medical Center of San Francisco, focusing on clinical application of left ventricular and biventricular assist devices, and on right ventricular function. Dr. Farrar was Vice President of Research and Development at Thoratec from 1996-2004, and VP of Research and Scientific Affairs from 2004 through the St Jude Medical acquisition of Thoratec in Oct 2015. Abbott subsequently acquired St Jude Medical in Jan 2017 where Dr. Farrar is currently Director of Research and Scientific Affairs. He has published numerous articles on mechanical circulatory support including over 50 on the HeartMate II LVAD. He has developed clinical research studies including SSI, TRACE and PREVENT on reducing infection, bleeding, and thrombus in LVAD patients, the ROADMAP Study on earlier intervention of LVADs in ambulatory advanced heart failure patients, and the INTELLECT-2 HF Study on the use of ambulatory pulmonary artery pressure monitoring in the management of LVAD patients. He received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Physics from Cornell University, and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, focusing on pulsatile hemodynamics in peripheral vascular disease, and was an Assistant Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology at Wake Forest Medical School, focusing on atherosclerosis research.