
Catherine L. Oberg, MD
Suite 365
Los Angeles, California 90095
About
Dr. Catherine Oberg is a board-certified interventional pulmonologist who practices in Santa Monica, Westwood, and Torrance. She performs a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic respiratory system procedures, and always works with patients to find the least invasive option that aligns with their goals of care. Her clinical interests include robotic bronchoscopy, bronchoscopic lung volume reduction, lung transplant complications, combined tracheostomy and PEG tube placement and central airway obstruction.
She performs a variety of procedures, including:
- Robotic/navigational bronchoscopy
- Radial and linear endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS)
- Rigid and flexible bronchoscopy
- Thermal ablative techniques, including Laser, Argon Plasma Coagulation (APC) and Electrocautery
- Cryodebridement
- Airway stent placement
- Bronchial thermoplasty
- Endobronchial valve placement
- Medical thoracoscopy/pleuroscopy
- Pleurodesis
- Tunneled pleural catheter placement
- Thoracentesis
- Percutaneous tracheostomy placement
- Gastrostomy tube placement
Dr. Oberg was born and raised in Tennessee. She received her medical degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and completed her internal medicine residency at the USC Keck School of Medicine. She then completed her pulmonary and critical care fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, followed by her advanced fellowship in interventional pulmonology from the Harvard Combined program at Beth Israel Deaconess/Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She earlier received her Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University, where she majored in biomedical science.
In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Oberg is an assistant professor of clinical medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the director of Interventional Pulmonology for the South Bay. She is the associate program director for the Interventional Pulmonology Fellowship and regularly attends on the UCLA Interventional Pulmonology inpatient service. She has conducted research on endobronchial valve placement, pleural disease, central airway obstruction, and combined tracheostomy and PEG tube placement, among other topics, and regularly gives regional and national talks on these subjects. She is currently site PI for a phase II clinical trial in pleural disease.
When she's not working, Dr. Oberg enjoys traveling and global health. She has provided care to patients in Tanzania, India and Haiti.
Languages
Education
Medical Board Certifications
Fellowships
Residency
Degree
Recognitions
- Super Doctors® Southern California Rising Stars, 2022, 2023
- Top Reviewer Annals of Internal Medicine, awarded, 2022, 2021
Locations



Hospital Affiliations
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center
Research
Publications
Link to Dr. Oberg's PubMed publications >
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Oberg C, Lau RP, Folch E, He T, Ronaghi R, Channick C, Susanto I, Garcia Tome R, Oh SS. Novel Robotic-Assisted Cryobiopsy for Peripheral Pulmonary Lesions. Lung. 2022 Oct 10. doi: 10.1007/s00408-022-00578-3. Online ahead of print.
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Oh SS, Ronaghi R, He T, Oberg CL, Channick C, Susanto I, Carroll M, Weight SS, Sayah D, Dolinay T, Chung A, Fishbein G, Lynch JP, Belperio JA. Safety and Diagnostic Yield of a Protocolized Outpatient Transbronchial Cryobiopsy Program Utilizing a 2.4 mm Cryoprobe for Interstitial Lung Disease. Respiratory Care. 2022 Aug 1:200(106913).
- Magge A and Oberg CL. Interventional Pulmonology and the Esophagus. Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2022 Jun 17. doi: 10.1055/s-0042-1748763. Online ahead of print.
- Senitko M, Oberg CL, Abraham GE, Hillegass WB, Akhtar I, Folch E. Microwave Ablation for Malignant Central Airway Obstruction: A Pilot Study. Respiration. 2022 Mar 22:1-9.
- Folch E, Mittal A, Oberg C. Robotic bronchoscopy and future directions of interventional pulmonology. Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2022 Jan 1;28(1):37-44.
- Oberg CL, Keyes C, Panchabhai TS, Sajawal Ali M, Oh SS, Grogan TR, Mojica J, Auchincloss H, Pulido N, Brait K, Folch EE. Combined Percutaneous Tracheostomy and Endoscopic Gastrostomy Tubes in COVID-19: A Prospective Series of Patient Outcomes. J Intensive Care Med. 2021 Nov;36(11):1340-1346.
- Oberg CL, Ronaghi R, Folch EE, Channick CL, He T, Susanto I, Oh SS. Pre-Procedural COVID-19 Nasopharyngeal Swab Has Good Concordance with Bronchoalveolar Lavage in Patients at Low Risk for Viral Infection. Respiration. 2021;100(6):510-514.
- Folch EE, Oberg CL, Mehta AC, Majid A, Keyes C, Fernandez-Bussy S. Argon Plasma Coagulation: Elucidation of the Mechanism of Gas Embolism. Respiration. 2021 Feb 4:1-5.
- Oberg CL, Beattie JA, Folch EE. Bronchoscopy and Tracheostomy in the COVID-19 Era. CHEST Physician Pulmonary Perspectives. CHEST Physician Pulmonary Perspectives. Vol. 15, No. 10, October 2020.
- Divo M, Oberg CL, Pritchett M, Celli B, Folch EE. Methods for a Seamless Transition from Tracheostomy to Spontaneous Breathing in COVID-19 Patients. Respir Care. 2020 Aug 5;respcare.08157.
- Pritchett MA, Oberg CL, Belanger A, et al. Society for Advanced Bronchoscopy Consensus Statement and Guidelines for Bronchoscopy and Airway Management Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Thorac Dis. 2020 May;12(5):1781-1798.
- Folch EE, Mahajan AK, Oberg CL, et al. Standardized bleeding definitions after transbronchial lung biopsy: a Delphi consensus statement from the Nashville Working Group. Chest. 2020 Feb 14. pii: S0012-3692(20)30272-5.
- Mahajan A, Ibrahim O, Perez R, Oberg C, et al. The Use of Electrosurgical and Laser Therapy Tools for the Management of Malignant Central Airway Obstructions. Chest. 2019 Aug 28.
- Oberg CL, Beattie JA, Folch EE. Endobronchial valves for lung volume reduction: What can we offer patients with advanced emphysema? CHEST Physician Pulmonary Perspectives. Vol. 14, No. 6, June 2019.
- Rabin A, Keyes CM, Oberg CL, Folch EE. Emerging Interventional Pulmonary Therapies for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. J Thorac Imaging. 2019 May 27.
- Mallow C, Lee H, Oberg C, et al. Safety and diagnostic performance of pulmonologists performing electromagnetic guided percutaneous lung biopsy (SPiNperc). Respirology. 2019 May;24(5):453-458.
- Oberg C, Folch E, Santacruz F. Management of Malignant Airway Obstruction. AME Medical Journal. 2018 Dec 18;3:115.
- Oberg CL, Holden VK, Channick CL. Benign Central Airway Obstruction. Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2018 Dec;39(6):731-746.
- Oberg CL, Majid A. Update on Management of Pleural Disease. Curr Pulmonol Rep. 2019 Dec; 8:205.
In the News
- Bronchoscopy and tracheostomy in the COVID-19 era
- Endobronchial valves for lung volume reduction: What can we offer patients with advanced emphysema?
- Household Air Pollution: Foundation Grantee Champions Lung Health
*Note: News website links may expire without notice.
Recognitions
-
Super Doctors® Southern California Rising Stars, 2022, 2023
-
Top Reviewer Annals of Internal Medicine, awarded, 2022, 2021