Director
Farrokh Farrokhi lives in Seattle with his wife and four children. He is an attending neurosurgeon at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.
Farrokh was born in Iran and grew up in Southern California. He completed his undergraduate studies in Biophysics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, medical training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and his neurosurgical residency training at the University of Texas and University of Washington.
During his 16 years at Virginia Mason, Farrokh has served in multiple leadership roles, including Chief of Neurosurgery, Chair of Quality, and member of the Medical Executive Committee. Over his tenure as chief, the neurosurgery program more than doubled in case volume and number of faculty. With his leadership, the system also established a national Center of Excellence for Spine care, accreditation as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, and founded a robust new research institute. The Neuroscience Institute research department now has more than 40 active IRB projects and over 100 publications to date.
In the last decade, Farrokh’s research has focused on the application of artificial intelligence to risk reduction, system efficiency through lean methodology, and complication avoidance in neurosurgery. Merging research and clinical interests, Farrokh has concentrated on Deep Brain Stimulation, Skull Base Surgery, and Spine care pathways. He was able to align the broader neurosurgical community on quality and innovation as President of the Washington Association of Neurological Surgeons and subsequently on the board of directors. Through these collaborations and subsequent publications, he has enjoyed seeing improvement in patient care at local, regional, and national levels.
Farrokh has also contributed to healthcare policy through authorship of the Bree Accountable Care Policy for lumbar fusion surgery and Washington State Labor and Industries Guidelines for Cervical Spine Surgery. These efforts, linked with his frontline operational research and publication in health care improvement, serve as long-lasting impacts to improve the neurosurgical field. In recent years, he has brought his experience in clinical neurosurgery, quality improvement, and healthcare policy together to contribute to global health efforts and advancing neurosurgery education in Nepal and other countries.
When not at work, Farrokh finds great joy in keeping up with his energetic family as they take in the great northwest scenery while hiking, biking, snowboarding, and sailing.