Lydia Aoun-Barakat, MD

Dr. Lydia Aoun Barakat is the Medical Director of the Yale Center for Infectious Diseases and she oversees the infectious diseases ambulatory services at YNHH and Yale Medicine, including the care of over 1,500 patients living with or at risk of HIV, general infectious diseases, and transplant infectious disease.

Dr. Barakat’s career is highlighted by her commitment to improving the care for people with HIV and aging with HIV. She has received and contributed to 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 served as member on 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.

Dr. Barakat is nationally recognized and involved in workforce development in the area of HIV primary care, infectious diseases, and DEI. She is passionate about teaching residents, infectious disease fellows, and students, mentoring them for presentations in national meetings and completing clinical research projects. She has been honored to receive “Teacher of the year award” on several occasions during the last two decade. She also serves as the Program Director for the HIV Training Track within the Yale Primary Care Residency Program that she established and implemented since 2011.

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 that results in the diagnosis of challenging infectious disease cases; whether diagnosing a “Fatal Inhalation Anthrax in a 94-year-old Connecticut Woman” published in JAMA, the patient who almost lost his vision due to Cat Scratch Disease or one of the first patients with COVID-19 reported in “Diagnosis” in the New York Times magazine.

Dr. Barakat is dedicated to her role as clinician educator scholar at Yale where caring for patients, mentoring students and trainees, and developing innovative research and curriculum are paramount.