Nooralam A Rai, MD

My interest in pediatric pulmonology started early in my training, when I had the opportunity to work in an asthma clinic for children. I chose to specialize in lung diseases affecting children because this population is very special; they are both inherently vulnerable but also remarkably resilient. I love developing relationships with my patients and their families and consider it a privilege to take part in their care.

Children are referred to me for a variety of reasons, such as difficulty breathing, frequent cough, difficulty exercising, snoring, swallowing problems, weakness, prematurity, and frequent lung infections. Left untreated, many of the underlying conditions causing these symptoms can have severe long term effects. It is essential that growing children are able to sleep well, breathe comfortably, be physically active, and receive adequate nutrition safely. I work with families, my colleagues, and physicians in other medical specialties to ensure that my patients reach these goals.

My research interests have been primarily related to basic mechanisms driving inflammation in patients with asthma. In our laboratory, I work with other pulmonologists and scientists to study the roles of various proteins produced by our body and how they can worsen or mitigate asthma. More recently, I have started to study how these proteins affect lung development in babies. Another one of my interests is medical education, and I am involved in an innovative project designing instructional tools to teach doctors in training more about pediatric pulmonology.