Nirav Bhakta, MD
Associate Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

He also found the challenges in working with patients and families on critical illness rewarding. After completing fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine and a postdoctoral fellowship both at UCSF, Dr. Bhakta joined the faculty in 2013.

Clinical activities: He attends in the Moffitt-Long Intensive Care Units, sees patients in the Chest Faculty Practice clinic on Parnassus Avenue where he also supervises fellows in their outpatient practice, and interprets pulmonary function tests as an attending in the Adult Pulmonary Function Laboratory, where he is also the Associate Director. He also sees patients in collaboration with the neuromuscular diseases clinic to manage respiratory symptoms and devices.

Research activities: Research is another important and personally rewarding part of his career. He leads human trials to obtain clinical data and tissue samples to understand the molecular basis for variations in the presentation of asthma. His other work advances the application of pulmonary function testing. His research activities not only contribute to the scientific and medical communities, but also synergize with his delivery of evidence-based, patient-centered medicine.

Teaching activities: He finds that his clinical and research activities enhance his performance as an educator. He is the Director of Education of the UCSF Adult Pulmonary Function Laboratory, where he oversees the education of MD pulmonary and critical care fellows in pulmonary physiology. In addition to this responsibility for the curriculum, he gives lectures and undertakes one-on-one teaching with fellows while interpreting tests. He gives recurring lectures to students, residents, and fellows, and engages in bedside teaching when attending in the Intensive Care Units. He is a clinic director and Coach in the Pulmonary Fellowship Training Program. To stay current, he participates in manuscript reviews for journals and has authored book chapters on asthma phenotypes, asthma exacerbations, and pulmonary function testing.

Professional Activities: As vice-chair of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Pulmonary Function Testing (PFT) Committee, he is committed to disseminating best practices for pulmonary function testing through technical standards and guidelines. Previously, co-chaired an update to the ATS/ERS lung volumes measurement technical standard and an ATS Workshop to address the use of race/ethnicity in PFT interpretation.

• COMPARING DIFFUSING CAPACITY REFERENCE EQUATION PERFORMANCE IN EVALUATING ABNORMAL DLCO IN POST-PNEUMONIA UGANDAN ADULTS.
  CHEST Journal 2023 KATERINA L BYANOVA, JESSICA FITZPATRICK, INGVAR SANYU, JOSEPHINE ZAWEDDE, PATRICK BYANYIMA, JAKE BRANCHINI, MICHELLE ZHANG, REBECCA ABELMAN, ABDULWAHAB SESSOLO, NIRAV BHAKTA, JUE LIN, PETER HUNT, …
• COMPARING PULMONARY FUNCTION REFERENCE EQUATION PERFORMANCE IN EVALUATING ABNORMAL SPIROMETRY IN POST-PNEUMONIA UGANDAN ADULTS.
  CHEST Journal 2023 JESSICA FITZPATRICK, KATERINA L BYANOVA, JOSEPHINE ZAWEDDE, INGVAR SANYU, PATRICK BYANYIMA, SYLVIA KASWABULI, MICHELLE ZHANG, JAKE BRANCHINI, REBECCA ABELMAN, ABDULWAHAB SESSOLO, AARON D BAUGH, NIRAV …
• PROGRESSIVE, REFRACTORY HEMOPTYSIS AND DYSPNEA IN A PATIENT WITH ACELLULAR PLASTIC BRONCHITIS RESOLVED WITH SIROLIMUS THERAPY.
  CHEST Journal 2023 KATERINA L BYANOVA, PAUL LINDENFELD, NIRAV BHAKTA
• Parameter D: New Measure of Airflow Obstruction.
  Annals of the American Thoracic Society 2023 Bhatt SP, Nakhmani A, Thimmegowda NM, Sthanam V, Wilson CG, Bhakta NR, Kim YI, Bodduluri S
• Race and Ethnicity in Pulmonary Function Test Interpretation: An Official American Thoracic Society Statement.
  American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 2023 Bhakta NR, Bime C, Kaminsky DA, McCormack MC, Thakur N, Stanojevic S, Baugh AD, Braun L, Lovinsky-Desir S, Adamson R, Witonsky J, Wise RA, Levy SD, Brown R, Forno E, Cohen RT, Johnson M, Balmes J, …
• Effect of Race and Ethnicity on Pulmonary Function Testing Interpretation: An American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC), American Thoracic Society (ATS), and Canadian Thoracic Society (CTS) Evidence Review and Research Statement.
  Chest 2023 Marciniuk DD, Becker EA, Kaminsky DA, McCormack MC, Stanojevic S, Bhakta NR, Bime C, Comondore V, Cowl CT, Dell S, Haynes J, Jaffe F, Mottram C, Sederstrom N, Townsend M, Iaccarino JM
• A Race-neutral Approach to the Interpretation of Lung Function Measurements.
  American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 2023 Bowerman C, Bhakta NR, Brazzale D, Cooper BR, Cooper J, Gochicoa-Rangel L, Haynes J, Kaminsky DA, Lan LTT, Masekela R, McCormack MC, Steenbruggen I, Stanojevic S
• A Good Fit versus One Size for All: Alternatives to Race in the Interpretation of Pulmonary Function Tests.
  American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 2022 Bhakta NR, Balmes JR
• Novel Methods for Studying Platelet-Mediated Inflammation in Asthma.
  Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2022 Dinah Foer, Taneem Amin, Olivier Boutaud, Tanya Laidlaw, Joshua Boyce, Nirav Bhakta, Katherine Cahill
• A Woman with One Year of Cough Presumed to Be Asthma.
  Annals of the American Thoracic Society 2021 Leba CT, Seeley EJ, Bhakta NR, Block BL
• Residual Volume Responsiveness Testing May Improve the Detection of Reversible Airway Obstruction in Asthma.
  The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. In practice 2021 Vempilly JJ, Rashidian A, Jain VV, Abejie BA, Bhakta N
• Addressing Race in Pulmonary Function Testing by Aligning Intent and Evidence With Practice and Perception.
  Chest 2021 Bhakta NR, Kaminsky DA, Bime C, Thakur N, Hall GL, McCormack MC, Stanojevic S
• Race and Genetic Ancestry in Medicine—A Time for Reckoning With Racism.
  Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey 2021 Luisa N. Borrell, Jennifer R. Elhawary, Elena Fuentes-Afflick, Jonathan Witonsky, Nirav Bhakta, Alan H. B. Wu, Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, José R. Rodríguez-Santana, Michael A. Lenoir, James R. Gavin, …
• Epithelial miR-141 regulates IL-13-induced airway mucus production.
  JCI insight 2021 Siddiqui S, Johansson K, Joo A, Bonser LR, Koh KD, Le Tonqueze O, Bolourchi S, Bautista RA, Zlock L, Roth TL, Marson A, Bhakta NR, Ansel KM, Finkbeiner WE, Erle DJ, Woodruff PG
• Ratio of FEV1/Slow Vital Capacity of < 0.7 Is Associated With Clinical, Functional, and Radiologic Features of Obstructive Lung Disease in Smokers With Preserved Lung Function.
  Chest 2021 Fortis S, Comellas AP, Bhatt SP, Hoffman EA, Han MK, Bhakta NR, Paine R, Ronish B, Kanner RE, Dransfield M, Hoesterey D, Buhr RG, Barr RG, Dolezal B, Ortega VE, Drummond MB, Arjomandi M, Kaner RJ, Kim…
• Race and Genetic Ancestry in Medicine - A Time for Reckoning with Racism.
  The New England journal of medicine 2021 Borrell LN, Elhawary JR, Fuentes-Afflick E, Witonsky J, Bhakta N, Wu AHB, Bibbins-Domingo K, Rodríguez-Santana JR, Lenoir MA, Gavin JR, Kittles RA, Zaitlen NA, Wilkes DS, Powe NR, Ziv E, Burchard EG
• Single-Cell Mapping of Progressive Fetal-to-Adult Transition in Human Naive T Cells.
  Cell reports 2021 Bunis DG, Bronevetsky Y, Krow-Lucal E, Bhakta NR, Kim CC, Nerella S, Jones N, Mendoza VF, Bryson YJ, Gern JE, Rutishauser RL, Ye CJ, Sirota M, McCune JM, Burt TD
• Restoring Pulmonary and Sleep Services as the COVID-19 Pandemic Lessens. From an Association of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Division Directors and American Thoracic Society-coordinated Task Force.
  Annals of the American Thoracic Society 2020 Wilson KC, Kaminsky DA, Michaud G, Sharma S, Nici L, Folz RJ, Barjaktarevic I, Bhakta NR, Cheng G, Chupp GL, Cole A, Dixon AE, Finigan JH, Graham B, Hallstrand TS, Haynes J, Hankinson J, MacIntyre N, …
• Deep neural network analyses of spirometry for structural phenotyping of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
  JCI insight 2020 Bodduluri S, Nakhmani A, Reinhardt JM, Wilson CG, McDonald ML, Rudraraju R, Jaeger BC, Bhakta NR, Castaldi PJ, Sciurba FC, Zhang C, Bangalore PV, Bhatt SP
• Distinct associations of sputum and oral microbiota with atopic, immunologic, and clinical features in mild asthma.
  The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 2020 Durack J, Christian LS, Nariya S, Gonzalez J, Bhakta NR, Ansel KM, Beigelman A, Castro M, Dyer AM, Israel E, Kraft M, Martin RJ, Mauger DT, Peters SP, Rosenberg SR, Sorkness CA, Wechsler ME, Wenzel SE…
• Air Trapping Correlates With Increased Frequency of Albuterol Use and Severity of Wheeze in Persistent Asthma.
  Respiratory care 2020 Vempilly JJ, Abejie BA, Rashidian A, Jain VV, Bhakta N
• Clinical Significance of Bronchodilator Responsiveness Evaluated by Forced Vital Capacity in COPD: SPIROMICS Cohort Analysis.
  International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 2019 Barjaktarevic IZ, Buhr RG, Wang X, Hu S, Couper D, Anderson W, Kanner RE, Paine Iii R, Bhatt SP, Bhakta NR, Arjomandi M, Kaner RJ, Pirozzi CS, Curtis JL, O'Neal WK, Woodruff PG, Han MK, Martinez FJ, …
• The Peak Index: Spirometry Metric for Airflow Obstruction Severity and Heterogeneity.
  Annals of the American Thoracic Society 2019 Bhatt SP, Bodduluri S, Raghav V, Bhakta NR, Wilson CG, Kim YI, Eberlein M, Sciurba FC, Han MK, Dransfield MT, Nakhmani A
• Conjugated bile acids attenuate allergen-induced airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness by inhibiting UPR transducers.
  JCI insight 2019 Nakada EM, Bhakta NR, Korwin-Mihavics BR, Kumar A, Chamberlain N, Bruno SR, Chapman DG, Hoffman SM, Daphtary N, Aliyeva M, Irvin CG, Dixon AE, Woodruff PG, Amin S, Poynter ME, Desai DH, Anathy V
• Unique Circulating MicroRNA Profiles in HIV Infection.
  Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) 2018 Narla V, Bhakta N, Freedman JE, Tanriverdi K, Maka K, Deeks SG, Ganz P, Hsue P
• New Spirometry Indices for Detecting Mild Airflow Obstruction.
  Scientific reports 2018 Bhatt SP, Bhakta NR, Wilson CG, Cooper CB, Barjaktarevic I, Bodduluri S, Kim YI, Eberlein M, Woodruff PG, Sciurba FC, Castaldi PJ, Han MK, Dransfield MT, Nakhmani A
• An airway epithelial IL-17A response signature identifies a steroid-unresponsive COPD patient subgroup.
  The Journal of clinical investigation 2018 Christenson SA, van den Berge M, Faiz A, Inkamp K, Bhakta N, Bonser LR, Zlock LT, Barjaktarevic IZ, Barr RG, Bleecker ER, Boucher RC, Bowler RP, Comellas AP, Curtis JL, Han MK, Hansel NN, Hiemstra PS,…
• Large Differences in Small RNA Composition Between Human Biofluids.
  Cell reports 2018 Godoy PM, Bhakta NR, Barczak AJ, Cakmak H, Fisher S, MacKenzie TC, Patel T, Price RW, Smith JF, Woodruff PG, Erle DJ
• Visual analysis of multidimensional CyTOF data from allergic asthmatics pre and post allergen challenge.
  The Journal of Immunology 2018 Jing M. Wang, Nirav Bhakta, Mark Ansel, Bobby Antalek, Christine P. Nguyen, Prescott G. Woodruff
• IFN-stimulated Gene Expression, Type 2 Inflammation, and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Asthma.
  American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 2018 Bhakta NR, Christenson SA, Nerella S, Solberg OD, Nguyen CP, Choy DF, Jung KL, Garudadri S, Bonser LR, Pollack JL, Zlock LT, Erle DJ, Langelier C, Derisi JL, Arron JR, Fahy JV, Woodruff PG
• Corticosteroid and long-acting ß-agonist therapy reduces epithelial goblet cell metaplasia.
  Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2017 Lachowicz-Scroggins ME, Finkbeiner WE, Gordon ED, Yuan S, Zlock L, Bhakta NR, Woodruff PG, Fahy JV, Boushey HA
• More Than Meets the Eye: Cigarette Smoke Induces Genomic Changes in the Small Airway Epithelium Independent of Histologic Changes.
  American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 2017 Bartel S, Bhakta N, Christenson S
• Effects of Age and Disease Severity on Systemic Corticosteroid Responses in Asthma.
  American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 2017 Phipatanakul W, Mauger DT, Sorkness RL, Gaffin JM, Holguin F, Woodruff PG, Ly NP, Bacharier LB, Bhakta NR, Moore WC, Bleecker ER, Hastie AT, Meyers DA, Castro M, Fahy JV, Fitzpatrick AM, Gaston BM, …
• By Expanding the Color Palette, CO-Oximetry Overcomes Some, but Not All, of the Uncommon Limitations of Pulse Oximetry.
  Annals of the American Thoracic Society 2017 Bhakta NR
• Natural killer cell-mediated inflammation resolution is disabled in severe asthma.
  Science immunology 2017 Duvall MG, Barnig C, Cernadas M, Ricklefs I, Krishnamoorthy N, Grossman NL, Bhakta NR, Fahy JV, Bleecker ER, Castro M, Erzurum SC, Gaston BM, Jarjour NN, Mauger DT, Wenzel SE, Comhair SA, Coverstone …
• Insights from Recognition of a Contradiction in the Equations that Define the Diffusing Capacity of the Lung for Carbon Monoxide.
  Annals of the American Thoracic Society 2017 Bhakta NR
• Inflammatory and Comorbid Features of Patients with Severe Asthma and Frequent Exacerbations.
  American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 2017 Denlinger LC, Phillips BR, Ramratnam S, Ross K, Bhakta NR, Cardet JC, Castro M, Peters SP, Phipatanakul W, Aujla S, Bacharier LB, Bleecker ER, Comhair SA, Coverstone A, DeBoer M, Erzurum SC, Fain SB, …
• Grease fires turn up the heat in autoimmune disease.
  Science translational medicine 2017 Bhakta NR
• Pitfalls of probiotics.
  Science translational medicine 2016 Bhakta NR
• Acute exacerbations of asthma.
  Pulmonary Emergencies 2016 Nirav R. Bhakta, Stephen C. Lazarus
• Features of the bronchial bacterial microbiome associated with atopy, asthma, and responsiveness to inhaled corticosteroid treatment.
  The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 2016 Durack J, Lynch SV, Nariya S, Bhakta NR, Beigelman A, Castro M, Dyer AM, Israel E, Kraft M, Martin RJ, Mauger DT, Rosenberg SR, Sharp-King T, White SR, Woodruff PG, Avila PC, Denlinger LC, Holguin F, …
• A twist of fat(e): Liposuction to treat vascular disease.
  Science Translational Medicine 2016 Nirav R. Bhakta
• Pairing the right ingredients for the perfect drug cocktail.
  Science Translational Medicine 2016 Nirav R. Bhakta
• A shocking way to suppress inflammation.
  Science Translational Medicine 2016 Nirav R. Bhakta
• Fire extinguishers turn down the gain on pain.
  Science Translational Medicine 2016 Nirav R. Bhakta
• IFN-γ-Producing T-Helper 17.1 Cells Are Increased in Sarcoidosis and Are More Prevalent than T-Helper Type 1 Cells.
  American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 2016 Ramstein J, Broos CE, Simpson LJ, Ansel KM, Sun SA, Ho ME, Woodruff PG, Bhakta NR, Christian L, Nguyen CP, Antalek BJ, Benn BS, Hendriks RW, van den Blink B, Kool M, Koth LL
• Safely accelerating past stop signs.
  Science Translational Medicine 2016 Nirav R. Bhakta
• Scientists flip-flop: Vitamin C suppresses immunity.
  Science Translational Medicine 2016 Nirav R. Bhakta
• 41 Asthma Pathogenesis and Phenotypes.
  Murray and Nadel\u0027s Textbook of Respiratory Medicine 2016 Prescott G. Woodruff, Nirav R. Bhakta, John V. Fahy
• Protein disulfide isomerase-endoplasmic reticulum resident protein 57 regulates allergen-induced airways inflammation, fibrosis, and hyperresponsiveness.
  The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 2015 Hoffman SM, Chapman DG, Lahue KG, Cahoon JM, Rattu GK, Daphtary N, Aliyeva M, Fortner KA, Erzurum SC, Comhair SA, Woodruff PG, Bhakta N, Dixon AE, Irvin CG, Janssen-Heininger YM, Poynter ME, Anathy V
• Single-cell analysis reveals a stem-cell program in human metastatic breast cancer cells.
  Nature 2015 Lawson DA, Bhakta NR, Kessenbrock K, Prummel KD, Yu Y, Takai K, Zhou A, Eyob H, Balakrishnan S, Wang CY, Yaswen P, Goga A, Werb Z
• UNIQUE CIRCULATING MICRORNA PROFILES AND ENDOTHELIAL FUNCTION IN HIV INFECTION.
  Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2015 Annie V. Narla, Nirav Bhakta, Jane Freedman, Kahraman Tanriverdi, Kristinalisa Maka, Steven Deeks, Peter Ganz, Priscilla Hsue
• A microRNA upregulated in asthma airway T cells promotes TH2 cytokine production.
  Nature immunology 2014 Simpson LJ, Patel S, Bhakta NR, Choy DF, Brightbill HD, Ren X, Wang Y, Pua HH, Baumjohann D, Montoya MM, Panduro M, Remedios KA, Huang X, Fahy JV, Arron JR, Woodruff PG, Ansel KM
• IL-17 and "TH2-high" asthma: Adding fuel to the fire?
  The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 2014 Bhakta NR, Erle DJ
• Longitudinal analysis of sarcoidosis blood transcriptomic signatures and disease outcomes.
  The European respiratory journal 2014 Su R, Li MM, Bhakta NR, Solberg OD, Darnell EP, Ramstein J, Garudadri S, Ho M, Woodruff PG, Koth LL
• Accumulation of BDCA1⁺ dendritic cells in interstitial fibrotic lung diseases and Th2-high asthma.
  PloS one 2014 Greer AM, Matthay MA, Kukreja J, Bhakta NR, Nguyen CP, Wolters PJ, Woodruff PG, Fahy JV, Shin JS
• Measures of gene expression in sputum cells can identify TH2-high and TH2-low subtypes of asthma.
  The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 2013 Peters MC, Mekonnen ZK, Yuan S, Bhakta NR, Woodruff PG, Fahy JV
• A qPCR-based metric of Th2 airway inflammation in asthma.
  Clinical and translational allergy 2013 Bhakta NR, Solberg OD, Nguyen CP, Nguyen CN, Arron JR, Fahy JV, Woodruff PG
• Altered microRNA profiles in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid exosomes in asthmatic patients.
  The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 2013 Levänen B, Bhakta NR, Torregrosa Paredes P, Barbeau R, Hiltbrunner S, Pollack JL, Sköld CM, Svartengren M, Grunewald J, Gabrielsson S, Eklund A, Larsson BM, Woodruff PG, Erle DJ, Wheelock ÅM
• Airway epithelial miRNA expression is altered in asthma.
  American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 2012 Solberg OD, Ostrin EJ, Love MI, Peng JC, Bhakta NR, Hou L, Nguyen C, Solon M, Nguyen C, Barczak AJ, Zlock LT, Blagev DP, Finkbeiner WE, Ansel KM, Arron JR, Erle DJ, Woodruff PG
• Sarcoidosis blood transcriptome reflects lung inflammation and overlaps with tuberculosis.
  American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 2011 Koth LL, Solberg OD, Peng JC, Bhakta NR, Nguyen CP, Woodruff PG
• Human asthma phenotypes: from the clinic, to cytokines, and back again.
  Immunological reviews 2011 Bhakta NR, Woodruff PG
• Real-time measurement of signaling and motility during T cell development in the thymus.
  Seminars in immunology 2005 Bhakta NR, Lewis RS
• Calcium oscillations regulate thymocyte motility during positive selection in the three-dimensional thymic environment.
  Nature immunology 2005 Bhakta NR, Oh DY, Lewis RS
• Dynamics of thymocyte-stromal cell interactions visualized by two-photon microscopy.
  Science (New York, N.Y.) 2002 Bousso P, Bhakta NR, Lewis RS, Robey E
• The effect of dynamic compression on the response of articular cartilage to insulin-like growth factor-I.
  Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society 2001 Bonassar LJ, Grodzinsky AJ, Frank EH, Davila SG, Bhaktav NR, Trippel SB
• The insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) I and II bind to articular cartilage via the IGF-binding proteins.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2000 Bhakta NR, Garcia AM, Frank EH, Grodzinsky AJ, Morales TI