Alik Farber, MD
James Utley Professor and Chair of Surgery
Biography
Alik Farber, MD, MBA, is interim Chair of the Departments of Surgery and Radiology at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. Dr. Farber is also interim Chief of the Department of Surgery at Boston Medical Center, where he is Associate Chief Medical Officer for Surgical Services and Chief of the Division of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery.
After earning his undergraduate degree from Brown University, Dr. Farber received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He completed residency in general surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, a vascular surgery fellowship at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and an endovascular surgery fellowship at Southern Illinois School of Medicine. He received an MBA from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.
Dr. Farber began his career in 1999 as a vascular surgeon in private practice at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. In 2005, he was recruited to Boston Medical Center as an attending vascular surgeon and joined the faculty of the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor, rising to full Professor in 2015. Throughout his tenure, Dr. Farber has been involved in diverse academic, clinical operational, and leadership roles.
Dr. Farber’s clinical practice focuses on peripheral artery disease. An internationally recognized authority on limb ischemia, he has been invited to contribute to multidisciplinary consensus statements and has lectured across the world on this topic. Dr. Farber has served as principal investigator (PI) for multiple clinical trials involving wound care, intermittent claudication, and deep-vein arterialization. Most recently he served as co-PI of the landmark Best Endovascular versus Best Surgical Therapy in Patients with Critical Limb Ischemia (BEST-CLI) trial. Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, this international, multicenter, randomized controlled trial compared traditional bypass surgery with endovascular treatment for patients with chronic limb threatening ischemia. More than 1,800 patients at 150 sites across North America, Europe, and New Zealand were enrolled, with results published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2022. Dr. Farber, who chairs the BEST-CLI Publications Committee, continues to be actively involved in trial dataset analysis and research dissemination through the BEST-CLI Collaborative, funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
A fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a distinguished fellow of the Society of Vascular Surgery, Dr. Farber frequently serves in leadership roles for professional organizations. Currently, he is Secretary of the Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery and Treasurer of both the New England Society for Vascular Surgery and the Massachusetts Chapter of the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Farber has authored more than 260 peer-reviewed manuscripts and 30 book chapters, and has edited two textbooks. He has given more than 160 presentations in over 20 countries.
Other Positions
- Surgeon-in-Chief, Boston Medical Center
- Professor, Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Surgery, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
- Associate Chief Medical Officer for Surgical Services , Boston Medical Center
- Professor, Vascular & Interventional, Radiology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
- Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research, Boston University
Education
- Harvard Medical School, MD
- Brandeis University, MBA
- Brown University, BS
Publications
- Published on 2/25/2025
Powell RJ, Farber A, Doros G, Chew D, Conte MS, Dake MD, Kiang S, Menard MT, Rosenfeld K, Schneider PA, Siracuse JJ, Shaw P, Strong MB, Todoran T, White CJ, Kaufman JA. The Incidence and Consequences of Endovascular Technical Failure in Patients with Chronic Limb Threatening Ischemia: Results from the BEST-CLI Trial. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2025 Feb 25. PMID: 40015448.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 2/19/2025
Kricfalusi M, Hamouda M, Abdelkarim A, Farber A, Hart JP, Malas MB. Mortality and amputation outcomes of infrainguinal bypass versus endovascular therapy based on body mass index. J Vasc Surg. 2025 Feb 19. PMID: 39984140.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 2/19/2025
Barleben AR, Patel RJ, Farber A, Menard MT, Venermo M, Creager MA, Reitz KM, Strong M, Rosenfield K, Doros G, Dake M, Chaer RA. An assessment of the BEST-CLI Trial demonstrates that infrainguinal bypass offers a potential advantage in smokers with chronic limb-threatening ischemia. J Vasc Surg. 2025 Feb 19. PMID: 39984143.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 2/7/2025
Alonso A, Kobzeva-Herzog AJ, Levin SR, de Macedo KM, Melvin J, Farber A, King EG, Garg K, Shean KE, O'Donnell TFX, Rybin D, Siracuse JJ. Disability and associated outcomes among patients suffering periprocedural strokes after carotid artery stenting. J Vasc Surg. 2025 Feb 07. PMID: 39923916.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 2/4/2025
Ulloa JG, Alabi O, McGinigle K, Lane J, Doros G, Menard M, Moreira CC, Judelson DR, Farber A, Conte MS, Rosenfeld K, Hamouda M, Kirksey L, Strong MB, Malas M, Kernodle A, Rowe VL. Outcomes for Hispanic patients undergoing open bypass in BEST-CLI. J Vasc Surg. 2025 Feb 04. PMID: 39914761.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/27/2025
Alonso A, Kobzeva-Herzog A, Dalton-Petillo S, Haqqani M, Farber A, King EG, Hicks CW, Malas M, Garg K, Osborne N, Simons JP, Siracuse JJ. Evaluating the management of intermittent claudication before and after publication of the Society of Vascular Surgery's Appropriate Use Criteria. J Vasc Surg. 2025 Jan 27. PMID: 39880293.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/23/2025
Malas MB, Hamouda M, Farber A, Menard MT, Conte MS, Rosenfield K, Strong MB, Doros G, Powell RJ, Mena-Hurtado C, Gasper W, Schermerhorn ML, Allievi S, Smolderen KG, Dake MD, Rymer JA, Tuttle KR. Outcomes of chronic limb-threatening ischemia revascularization in patients with chronic kidney disease in the BEST-CLI trial. J Vasc Surg. 2025 Apr; 81(4):945-956.e3. PMID: 39846933.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/10/2025
Sung E, Awtry EH, Koh DJ, McNamara T, Kang H, Farber A, King E, Kalish J, Alonso A, Siracuse JJ. Peripheral vascular emboli in patients with infective endocarditis are common. J Vasc Surg. 2025 Jan 10. PMID: 39800124.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/3/2024
Siracuse JJ, Farber A, Menard MT, Rosenfield K, Conte MS, Schanzer A, Doros G, Motaganahalli R, Laskowski IJ, Barshes NR, Genovese EA, Strong MB, Mills JL. Advanced Wound, Ischemia, and Foot Infection stage is associated with poor outcomes in the BEST-CLI trial. J Vasc Surg. 2025 Mar; 81(3):720-729.e1. PMID: 39638100.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/1/2024
Farber A. Just because we can technically do something does not mean that we should. J Vasc Surg. 2024 Dec; 80(6):1823. PMID: 39577899.
Read at: PubMed
View 370 more publications: View full profile at BUMC