About-Asif
MEET THE DOCTOR

ASIF RAFI, MD

Dr. Rafi began his interest in Immunology as a Senior Research Associate at the Georgetown University Medical Center. While there, he completed a 2-year project investigating the epidemiology of HIV and AIDS in the DC metropolitan area. His research team was also a key site to be awarded one of the prestigious Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) grants.

After attending medical school at Howard University College of Medicine, he completed an internal medicine internship and residency at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland where he was actively involved in Allergy and Immunology research.

After his residency, Dr. Rafi entered a 3-year research fellowship in Allergy and Immunology and Geriatrics and Gerontology at the University of California Los Angeles. During his fellowship, he completed his pediatric Allergy and Immunology training at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. He has completed extensive research in the fields of chronic sinusitis, atopic dermatitis and allergic skin disorders, co-morbidities associated with allergic diseases, and food allergies. His other interests include immune disorders, asthma, transient wheezing of childhood, drug allergy, multiple drug sensitivities, and exercise-induced asthma.

During his training at UCLA, Dr. Rafi also completed a Special Fellowship in Advanced Geriatrics with extensive research in the fields of anti-aging medicine, immune enhancing medications, and drug interactions.

Dr. Rafi is on faculty at UCLA and is currently an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at the UCLA School of Medicine/VA Greater Los Angeles Medical Center. He is a core member of the Allergy and Immunology Fellowship faculty within the VA Greater Los Angeles Medical Center. He heads the research of the fellows, and also teaches medical residents and medical students.

Dr. Rafi has written and published multiple first author manuscripts in the field of Allergy and Immunology and Geriatrics. He has also co-written a book chapter involving immunity in the elderly and infection control in nursing homes.

Focusing Extensive Research

From my extensive training, I have developed a novel multi-disciplinary approach to the treatment of chronic sinusitis which has superior efficacy to standard treatments.

If you have a food allergy, your immune system overreacts to a particular protein found in that food. Symptoms can occur when coming in contact with just a tiny amount of the food. Many food allergies are first diagnosed in young children, though they may also appear in older children and adults.

An expert in the treatment of chronic sinusitis, Dr. Rafi is the only Board Certified & Fellowship-trained Allergist & Immunologist in Los Angeles who has completed advanced training in chronic sinusitis.

Food intolerance is not caused by the immune system and usually has a delayed reaction of several hours after eating the food. Symptoms include gastrointestinal bloating, diarrhea, vomiting and skin rashes. Food intolerance can have a number of different causes, so it is important to know what those foods are to get to the underlying condition.

Asthma is a chronic disease involving the airways in the lungs.  Asthma is characterized by reversible obstruction of these airways.  When something triggers your symptoms, the airways become even more swollen and the muscles around the airways can tighten. This makes it difficult for air to move in and out of the lungs, causing symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness.

Exercise-Induced Bronchoconstriction, (EIB), often known as exercise-induced asthma, is a narrowing of the airways causing difficulty moving air out of the lungs during exercise. If you have chronic asthma, your symptoms may be worse when you exercise. In addition, some people who don’t have asthma experience symptoms only when they exercise.

Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID) is an antibody deficiency that leaves the immune system unable to defend against bacteria and viruses, resulting in recurrent and often severe infections primarily affecting the ears, sinuses, and respiratory tract.  (sino-pulmonary infections). In the majority of cases, the diagnosis is not made until the third to fourth decade of life. Permanent damage to the respiratory tract (bronchiectasis) may occur due to severe and repeated infections.

Your skin protects your insides and is like a wall that helps stop germs, dirt, bacteria and other unwanted pathogens from getting in. Your skin is also involved in important functions like controlling your body temperature and your respiration (gas exchange).  New skins cells constantly replace old ones. Unfortunately, the skin is still vulnerable to infection as it interacts with microscopic bacteria, fungi, and other pathogens.

When asthma symptoms appear in adults 20 years of age or older, it is referred to as adult-onset asthma. Exposure to allergens, infection, or irritants such as cigarette smoke, chemicals, mold, or other substances commonly found in the person’s environment may trigger the first asthma symptoms in an adult.