Haig K. Aintablian, MD

Haig Aintablian is a board certified emergency physician, flight surgeon, and director of the UCLA Space Medicine Program. He started college at 15 years old, and obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences, Summa Cum Laude, and his Master of Science in Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry from the University of Southern California at 21 years of age.

He has had over 40 research publications and presentations ranging from the mechanisms of viral replication to astronaut associated pathologies. Some of his findings are referenced in medical and genetics textbooks, including his most notable research on ACAD-9 deficiency, one of the rarest pathologies in medicine. Haig has had research endeavors with NASA’s Johnson Space Center, served on multiple editorial boards for peer-reviewed publications, medical school admissions committees, and as President of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine RSA. He has coordinated a multi-specialty lobbying campaign in Washington DC, spoken at various conferences on physician leadership, founded The Differential Diagnosis Newsletter, and became an ambassador for the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM). He is currently on the board of directors of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine and the Space Medicine Fellowship Council.

In 2020, he was awarded the national “Resident of the Year” award by the American Academy of Emergency Medicine. He recently travelled to Artsakh in Armenia to do combat medicine for soldiers in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, after which he received an award from the Armed Forces of Armenia. He has had multiple media appearances including on Los Angeles area news networks like KTLA, CBS, FOX, and KCAL, has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, BBC World News, and The New York Times, and produced articles for NPR, Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN on a variety of topics.