Igor Z Barjaktarevic, MD, PhD

As Assistant Professor of Medicine and a Medical Director of COPD Program at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Dr. Barjaktarevic leads the clinical and research projects in COPD and alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency syndrome. As a Director of Bedside ultrasound of the Department of Medicine at UCLA, Dr. Barjaktarevic leads the research on the use of transthoracic and endobronchial ultrasound in critical care settings. With clinical interest in advanced pulmonary procedures, Dr. Barjaktarevic participates in interventional pulmonology programs at UCLA and have been one of the founders of lung nodule clinic at UCLA.

With fairly extensive background in the field of pulmonary immunology where Dr. Barjaktarevic obtained a PhD in 2016 in collaborative project between University of Belgrade and Weill Cornell in New York, his research experience expands from basic science and experiments on laboratory animals to complete conduction of clinical or translational studies. Dr Barjaktarevic is interested in the role of cellular immunity in the development of COPD and the role of Th-17 immune response in emphysema and role of HIV in early development of emphysema among HIV+ smokers. He is a principal investigator at UCLA for multiple government or industry-sponsored clinical trials focused on COPD, Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and hemodynamic monitoring in shock.