Emanuel was born in Victoria, Gozo. He studied at the Gozo Seminary Minor, Gozo Lyceum, and the UM, where he graduated MD (1984) with distinction. After working as a house physician-surgeon for two years, Farrugia obtained the diploma in Nephrology and Hypertension from the Royal Postgraduate Medical School of the University of London (1986-87) and the MRCP (UK) in 1988. He furthered his specialization in nephrology and transplantation at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, USA (1989-92). He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of both London and Edinburgh, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians,and a founder Fellow of the European Federation of Internal Medicine. He is an active member of the International Society of Nephrology and the European Dialysis and Transplant Association.In 1992, Farrugia was appointed consultant physician and nephrologist at St Luke’s Hospital.Currently, Farrugia heads the division of nephrology and internal medicine at Mater Dei Hospital, and is also a consultant in private general medicine and nephrology practice. Farrugia has lectured extensively in renal physiology, medicine and clinical pharmacology as an UM lecturer (1994), senior lecturer, and associate professor (2011), and supervised and mentored numerous doctors and allied health professionals. He is an examiner for MD at the UM, and college examiner for the MRCP (UK). Farrugia is a founder committee member of the Association of Physicians of Malta, and coordinator of the Maltese postgraduate training programme in nephrology since its inception.