Alden H. Harken, MD is Professor of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine; Chairman, Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco-East Bay; and Chief of Surgery, Alameda County Medical Center. He is a co-author of Abernathy’s Surgical Secrets, 7th Edition.

Dr. Harken graduated from Case Western Reserve Medical School and completed surgical and pediatric cardiovascular residencies at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and the Boston Children’s Medical Hospital. He then joined the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, where he was an investigator gaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He is board certified in surgery and thoracic surgery.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Harken’s contributions to the field of cardiac electrophysiology include influential early work around mapping and surgical ablation for ventricular tachyarrhythmias. His work in this area has contributed to the understanding of the pathophysiology of ventricular tachycardia and has shaped today’s methods of ablative treatment of ischemic ventricular tachycardia.

In 2005 and 2006, surgical residents voted Dr. Harken the Julia Burke Outstanding Teacher of the Year. Dr. Harken was also honored with the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of University Surgeons.

Dr. Harken has authored or co-authored 500 peer-reviewed manuscripts. He is a past Director of both the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, a Regent of the American College of Surgeons, and past President of the Halsted Society, the Society of University Surgeons, and the Association of Academic Surgery. He has served on NIH Surgery Study Sections since 1985 and chaired an NIH Fellowship Study Section. He is a member of the American Surgical Association, the Society of University Surgeons, the Society for Thoracic Surgeons, American Association for Thoracic Surgery and the Southern Surgical Association. He also serves on the editorial board for nine scientific journals.