Research Summary

Dr. Arjomandi grew up in Ahvaz, a small city in Southwestern Iran, and moved to the United States in 1986 in the aftermath of Iranian revolution (1979), Iraq invasion of Iran (1980-88), and his family displacement inside Iran (1980-83). When in California, he began his higher education at Los Angeles Pierce College before transferring to University of California San Diego in 1988, where he obtained a bachelor degree in molecular biology and completed a senior honors thesis in developmental biology in Dr. Richard Firtel’s lab. He then attended Stanford University School of Medicine in 1991, completing two predoctoral research fellowships in Dr. Etienne Emile Beaulieu’s lab at INSERM in Paris, France, and Dr. John Cooke’s vascular biology lab at Stanford. Dr. Arjomandi then completed a residency in internal medicine at UCLA (1996-99) and a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care at UCSF (2000-03). He completed three additional years of research fellowship funded by the American Lung Association and Chest Foundation before successfully competing for an NIH K23 award in 2006 and then joining the pulmonary and critical care faculty at UCSF and San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH). In 2008, he obtained a joint appointment at San Francisco VA Medical Center (SF VA).

Currently, Dr. Arjomandi is Professor of Medicine in the Divisions of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy, and Sleep Medicine and Occupational and Environmental Medicine at UCSF with a joint appointment at SF VA. He is Director of the UCSF Human Exposure Laboratory at SFGH, Director of Environmental Medicine Clinic at SF VA, Site Director for the SF VA Airborne Hazard Exposure Study Center of Excellence, an investigator at the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, and a member of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Research Interests

The lung is constantly exposed to various environmental pollutants, allergens, and toxins, which interact with airways and alveoli and result in inflammation, injury, and disease. My laboratory primary research interest has been centered on the paradigm that respiratory exposures to pollutants and toxicants contribute to development and progression of chronic lung diseases, and may further yield systemic effects well beyond lungs. Under this paradigm, my research activities have focused on understanding the physiologic and immunologic mechanisms via which environmental exposures contribute to chronic lung diseases and how knowledge of these mechanisms could be translated to ways to better define, prognosticate, and manage disease burden at both individual and societal levels.

I have dedicated my efforts to (1) investigate the biology of airway immune cells using inhalational exposure to ozone in humans as a model of lung injury simulating exacerbation in chronic lung disease, and (2) characterize the early cardiopulmonary changes due to exposure to tobacco smoke and the pathophysiology and biology associated with those changes.

Research Funding

  • July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2023 - Occult Cardiovascular Disease with Chronic Exposure to Secondhand Tobacco Smoke, PI. Sponsor: Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute (FAMRI), Sponsor Award ID: SFGH Foundation
  • July 1, 2017 - June 30, 2022 - Circulating Tumor DNA in Patients at High Risk for Lung Cancer, PI. Sponsor: Guardant Health, Inc., Sponsor Award ID: NCIRE-2062
  • April 1, 2019 - March 31, 2022 - Characterization of Innate Immunity in Pollution-induced Exacerbation in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (CO3PD Study), PI. Sponsor: California TRDRP, Sponsor Award ID: T29IR0715
  • March 1, 2020 - February 28, 2022 - Lung Macrophage Populations and Functions in COPD-Susceptible Smokers (Pre-COPD Study), PI. Sponsor: Department of Defense, Sponsor Award ID: W81XWH-20-1-0158

Education

University of California, San Diego, BA, 06/1991, Molecular Biology
Stanford University, MD, 06/1996, MD Program
University of California, Los Angeles, Residency, 06/1999, Internal Medicine
University of California, San Francisco Fellowship, 06/2003, Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine
University of California, San Francisco, Certificate, 06/2003, Advanced Training in Clinical Research
Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study Program, Certificate, 08/2009, Clinical Trial Design Course
University of California, San Francisco, Certificate, 05/2010, Mentor Development Program
The Jackson Laboratories (NIH/NHLBI), Certificate, 10/2010, Genetic Approaches to Complex Heart, Lung and Blood Diseases
University of California, San Francisco, CA, 2018, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training

Honors & Awards

  • 1988
    Mathematics Scholarship, Los Angeles Pierce College
  • 1989 &1990
    Dean's honors list, University of California San Diego
  • 1990
    Pre-doctoral Research Fellow, Ronald McNair Student Fellowship, University of California San Diego
  • 1992
    Pre-doctoral Research Scholar, La Societe pour Aider les Amis de Science, INSERM at University of Paris, France
  • 1992
    Pre-doctoral Research Scholar, Steward Traveling Medical Scholars Award, Stanford University
  • 1993
    Pre-doctoral Research Scholar, Stanford Medical Scholars Award, Stanford University
  • 2003
    Research Award, Chest Foundation Clinical Research Trainee Award
  • 2003 & 2004
    Research Award, American Lung Association Research Fellowship Award
  • 2006
    Research Award, NIH/NHLBI Mentored Patient-oriented Career Development Award (K23)
  • 2015
    Research Award, Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute Individual Research Award
  • 2015
    Breathe California Clean Air Award- Research Category

Selected Publications

  1. Liu Q, Tian X, Maruyama D, Arjomandi M, Prakash A Lung Immune Tone via Gut-Lung Axis: Gut-derived LPS and Short-chain Fatty Acids' immunometabolic regulation of Lung IL-1ß, FFAR2 and FFAR3 Expression.  View on PubMed
  2. Fortis S, Comellas A, 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 V, Curtis JL, Bowler RP, Martinez F, Labaki WW, Cooper CB, O'Neal WK, Criner G, Hansel NN, Krishnan JA, Woodruff P, Couper D, Tashkin D, Barjaktarevic I Ratio of Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second /Slow Vital Capacity (FEV1/SVC)<0.7 is associated with clinical, functional, and radiologic features of obstructive lung disease in smokers with preserved lung function.  View on PubMed
  3. Vasudevan S, Vásquez JJ, Chen W, Aguilar-Rodriguez B, Niemi EC, Zeng S, Tamaki W, Nakamura MC, Arjomandi M Lower PDL1, PDL2, and AXL Expression on Lung Myeloid Cells Suggests Inflammatory Bias in Smoking and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.  View on PubMed
  4. Rich DQ, Thurston SW, Balmes JR, Bromberg PA, Arjomandi M, Hazucha MJ, Alexis NE, Ganz P, Zareba W, Thevenet-Morrison K, Koutrakis P, Frampton MW Do Ambient Ozone or Other Pollutants Modify Effects of Controlled Ozone Exposure on Pulmonary Function?  View on PubMed
  5. Sotolongo A, Falvo M, Santos S, Johnson I, Arjomandi M, Hines S, Krefft S, Osterholzer J Military Burn Pits.  View on PubMed
  6. Rich DQ, Frampton MW, Balmes JR, Bromberg PA, Arjomandi M, Hazucha MJ, Thurston SW, Alexis NE, Ganz P, Zareba W, Koutrakis P, Thevenet-Morrison K Multicenter Ozone Study in oldEr Subjects (MOSES): Part 2. Effects of Personal and Ambient Concentrations of Ozone and Other Pollutants on Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Function.  View on PubMed
  7. Blagev DP, Collingridge DS, Rea S, Carey KA, Mularski RA, Zeng S, Arjomandi M, Press VG Laboratory-based Intermountain Validated Exacerbation (LIVE) Score stability in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  View on PubMed
  8. 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, Hansel N, Wells JM, Ortega VE, Hoffman EA, Doerschuk CM, Kim V, Dransfield MT, Drummond MB, Bowler R, Criner G, Christenson SA, Ronish B, Peters SP, Krishnan JA, Tashkin DP, Cooper CB Clinical Significance of Bronchodilator Responsiveness Evaluated by Forced Vital Capacity in COPD: SPIROMICS Cohort Analysis.  View on PubMed
  9. Arjomandi M, Zeng S, Barjaktarevic I, Barr RG, Bleecker ER, Bowler RP, Buhr RG, Criner GJ, Comellas AP, Cooper CB, Couper DJ, Curtis JL, Dransfield MT, Han MK, Hansel NN, Hoffman EA, Kaner RJ, Kanner RE, Krishnan JA, Paine R, Peters SP, Rennard SI, Woodruff PG Radiographic lung volumes predict progression to COPD in smokers with preserved spirometry in SPIROMICS.  View on PubMed
  10. Balmes JR, Arjomandi M, Bromberg PA, Costantini MG, Dagincourt N, Hazucha MJ, Hollenbeck-Pringle D, Rich DQ, Stark P, Frampton MW Ozone effects on blood biomarkers of systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, endothelial function, and thrombosis: The Multicenter Ozone Study in oldEr Subjects (MOSES).  View on PubMed
  11. Zeng S, Tham A, Bos B, Jin J, Arjomandi M Back to the Box: Using Lung Volumes to Predict Susceptibility to Develop Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease among Smokers.  View on PubMed
  12. Vasudevan S, Vasquez J, Chen W, Zeng S, Arjomandi M Inflammatory Phenotypes Associated with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Increase Susceptibility to Exacerbation. Lessons from Single Cell Analysis of Lung Macrophages.  View on PubMed
  13. Trivedi NN, Brown JK, Rubenstein T, Rostykus AD, Fish AL, Heng Y, Luis C, Alice J, Sandy K, Bhavin P, Sidhu M, Vuong D, Wang S, Beggs M, Wu AH, Arjomandi M Analytical validation of a novel multi-analyte plasma test for lung nodule characterization  View on PubMed
  14. Trivedi NN, Brown JK, Rubenstein T, Rostykus AD, Fish AL, Yu H, Carbonell L, Juang A, Kamer S, Patel B, Sidhu M, Vuong D, Wang S, Beggs M, Wu AH, Arjomandi M Analytical validation of a novel multi-analyte plasma test for lung nodule characterization.  View on PubMed
  15. Trivedi NN, Arjomandi M, Brown JK, Rubenstein T, Rostykus AD, Esposito S, Axler E, Beggs M, Yu H, Carbonell L, Juang A, Kamer S, Patel B, Wang S, Fish AL, Haddad Z, Wu AH Risk assessment for indeterminate pulmonary nodules using a novel, plasma-protein based biomarker assay.  View on PubMed
  16. Trivedi NN, Arjomandi M, Brown JK, Rubenstein T, Rostykus AD, Esposito S, Axler E, Beggs M, Yu H, Carbonell L, Juang A, Kamer S, Patel B, Wang S, Fish AL, Haddad Z, Wu AH Risk assessment for indeterminate pulmonary nodules using a novel, plasma-protein based biomarker assay. Biomedical research and clinical practice  View on PubMed
  17. A. Fish, A. Vachani, M. Beggs, L. Carbonell, Z. Haddad, A. Juang, S. Kamer, B. Patel, H. Yu, A. Wu, P. Massion, M. Arjomandi, J. Brown, N. Trivedi, T. Rubenstein MA23.03 Risk Assessment for Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodules Using a Novel, Plasma-Protein Based Biomarker Assay.  View on PubMed
  18. Lee SM, Tenney R, Wallace AW, Arjomandi M E-cigarettes versus nicotine patches for perioperative smoking cessation: a pilot randomized trial.  View on PubMed
  19. Zeng S, Tham A, Bos B, Jin J, Giang B, Arjomandi M Lung volume indices predict morbidity in smokers with preserved spirometry.  View on PubMed
  20. Rich DQ, Balmes JR, Frampton MW, Zareba W, Stark P, Arjomandi M, Hazucha MJ, Costantini MG, Ganz P, Hollenbeck-Pringle D, Dagincourt N, Bromberg PA Cardiovascular function and ozone exposure: The Multicenter Ozone Study in oldEr Subjects (MOSES).  View on PubMed

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