Dr. Ben Starnes

Benjamin W. Starnes, MD, FACS, is a board-certified vascular surgeon at Harborview Medical Center and a Professor of Vascular Surgery. He also holds the Alexander Whitehill Clowes Endowed Chair in Vascular Surgery.


Dr. Starnes is nationally and internationally recognized for his work in complex aortic pathology and vascular trauma, most notably the management of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms and acute aortic syndromes. Prior to accepting his position at the University of Washington, Dr. Starnes spent a total of 15 years in the United States Army serving three combat tours, one in Kosovo and two in Iraq. He is the principal investigator for one of only a handful of physician-sponsored Investigational Device Exemption studies in the United States involving physician-modified fenestrated endografts.


Dr. Starnes’ extensive research involvement, combined with his clinical and technical abilities, has provided him with opportunities to speak regularly at medical conferences around the globe. He has accepted 23 national visiting professorships and lectured internationally on five continents and in fourteen different countries including France, Belgium, Australia, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Japan and China. He has been the author or co-author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications with a quarter as the first author. He created and edited the only textbook solely dedicated to the management of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms. Dr. Starnes’ editorial review responsibilities with the leading vascular journals include The Journal of Vascular Surgery, Circulation, New England Journal of Medicine and Lancet. He is the Past President 2020 of the Western Vascular Society- one of only five regional vascular surgery societies in the United States and Pacific Rim.