Lydia Aoun-Barakat, MD

Dr. Lydia Aoun Barakat is the director of Yale Infectious Disease Ambulatory Services

As the Medical Director of the Nathan Smith Clinic at Yale New Haven Hospital, she oversees the HIV care of over 900 patients living with HIV/AIDS. Dr. Barakat’s career is highlighted by her commitment for managing HIV disease. She has received and contributed in multiple HRSA and CDC grants that are dedicated to the mission of serving the people living with HIV/AIDS and require a long term vision in accomplishing a high standard quality of care as well as a focus on outcome measures.

Dr. Barakat is a leader in Quality Improvement in HIV care and serves as member in several local and national committees dedicated to improving HIV Quality. Her work has been recognized nationally by the presentation of the “Senior Leadership Award” for her role in building an HIV Quality infrastructure for patient care.

She is passionate about teaching residents and students, mentoring them for presentations in national meetings and completing clinical research projects. Dr. Barakat has been honored to receive “Teacher of the year award” on four occasions during the last decade. She also serves as the Program Director for the HIV Training Track in the Yale Internal Medicine Primary Care Residency Program that she established and implemented since 2011.

Dr. Barakat is also an investigator in the Yale AIDS clinical trials and has ongoing research projects on HIV and aging.

Dr. Barakat has taken every opportunity to expand her knowledge and expertise in the fields of Medicine and Infectious Diseases. She enjoys the investigative process the results in the diagnosis in challenging infectious disease cases; whether diagnosing a “Fatal Inhalation Anthrax in a 94-year-old Connecticut Woman” published in JAMA, or the patient who almost lost his vision due to Cat Scratch Disease as reported in “Diagnosis: Vision Quest” in the New York Times magazine.

Dr. Barakat is dedicated to her role as clinician educator at Yale where caring for patients and mentoring students and residents are paramount.