Tara Ann Niendam, Ph.D.
Executive Director, UC Davis Early Psychosis Programs (EDAPT and SacEDAPT Clinics)
Associate Professor in Residence
Tara Ann Niendam is not currently accepting new patients. For assistance finding a UC Davis doctor, please call 800-2-UCDAVIS (800-282-3284).
Specialties
Pediatric and Transition-age Youth Mental Health
Department
Locations and Contact
4701 X St.
Sacramento, CA 95817
Additional Numbers
Clinic Phone
Clinic Fax
Physician Referrals
Philosophy of Care
Dr. Niendam supports all clients toward wellness and recovery, believing that managing symptoms is secondary to having meaningful roles, goals and relationships in one's life. She also believes that family and support persons are important for the recovery process and strives to include them in all aspects of assessment and treatment.
Clinical Interests
Dr. Niendam is a licensed clinical psychologist with specialized training in assessment and treatment for youth at risk for or in the early stages of psychosis. As the Executive Director of the UCD Early Psychosis Programs, Dr. Niendam supervises clinic activities and staff and coordinates outreach and educational presentations within the community.
She also serves as the Co-Director for our pre-doctoral Trauma and Adolescent Mental Illness (TAMI) internship, which is a collaboration with the UC Davis CAARE Center, to provide evidence-based trauma informed care to youth with early psychosis.
Research/Academic Interests
Dr. Niendam's research seeks to improve clinical and functional outcomes for youth with serious mental illness. Her research has focused on four key themes: 1) Elucidating factors that contribute to real world functioning and clinical outcome across psychiatric disorders, 2) Evaluating the impact of interventions on outcomes in psychosis and other mental health diagnoses, 3) Developing technology-enhanced methods to improve identification and enhance treatment, and 4) Enhancement and dissemination of best practices for early psychosis care. She has explored these themes within and between multiple specific disorders, across dimensions of clinical symptomatology, and investigated how they can be impacted by intervention. Taken together, Dr. Niendam strives to improve long-term clinical and psychosocial outcomes for youth with serious mental illness.
Division
Psychiatry
Clinical Psychologist
Center/Program Affiliation
Undergraduate School
B.A., Northwestern University, Evanston IL 2000
Other School
Ph.D., UC Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA 2006
Other School
M.A., UCLA, Los Angeles CA 2002
Internship
Pre-doctoral Psychology, The Guidance Center, Long Beach CA 2004-2005
Fellowship
Post-doctoral Fellowship, UCLA Staglin Center for the Assessment and Prevention of Prodromal States (CAPPS), Los Angeles CA 2006-2008
UC Davis Academic Senate Research Travel Grant, 2010, 2013
Eunice K. Meyer Charitable Foundation Investigator - NARSAD Young Investigator Award, 2012
National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Program Award, 2009, 2011
International Congress on Schizophrenia Research Young Investigator Travel Award, 2011
UC Davis Academic Federation Research Travel Grant Award, 2009, 2010
American College of Neuropsychopharmacology Young Investigator Travel Award, 2009
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Fellow, 2006, 2007, 2008
Friends of the Semel Institute Travel Grant Award, 2007
National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Award Recipient, 2002
To view a detailed list of Dr. Niendam's publications, please click here.
Rosenthal A, Meyer MS, Mayo D, Tully LM, Patel P, Ashby S, Titone M, Carter CS, Niendam TA. Contributions of childhood trauma and atypical development to increased clinical symptoms and poor functioning in recent onset psychosis. Early Interv Psychiatry. 2020 Feb 10;10.1111/eip.12931. doi:10.1111/eip.12931. PMID: 32043308. PMCID: PMC7415665.
Mayo D, Bolden KA, Simon TJ, Niendam TA. Bullying and psychosis: The impact of chronic traumatic stress on psychosis risk in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome - a uniquely vulnerable population. J Psychiatr Res. 2019 Jul;114:99-104. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2019.04.011. Epub 2019 Apr 15. PMID:31054456. PMCID:PMC6564673.
Savill M, Gosdin M, Patel P, Melnikow J, Loewy R, Niendam T. How Do Early Psychosis Services Define and Operationalize the Duration of Untreated Psychosis? J Behav Health Serv Res. 2019 Jul;46(3):497-508. doi:10.1007/s11414-018-9630-y. PMID:30298441. PMCID:PMC6453756.
Niendam TA, Sardo A, Savill M, Patel P, Xing G, Loewy RL, Dewa CS, Melnikow J. The Rise of Early Psychosis Care in California: An Overview of Community and University-Based Services. Psychiatr Serv. 2019 Jun 1;70(6):480-487. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201800394. Epub 2019 Mar 20. PMID:30890048.
Savill M, Sardo A, Patel P, Loewy R, Melnikow J, Niendam T. Which components of specialized early intervention for psychosis do senior providers see as most important? Early Interv Psychiatry. 2019 Jun;13(3):677-681. doi:10.1111/eip.12690. Epub 2018 Jun 8. PMID:29882258. PMCID:PMC6286695.
Lesh TA, Maddock RJ, Howell A, Wang H, Tanase C, Daniel Ragland J, Niendam TA, Carter CS. Extracellular free water and glutathione in first-episode psychosis-a multimodal investigation of an inflammatory model for psychosis. Mol Psychiatry. 2019 May 28;10.1038/s41380-019-0428-y. doi:10.1038/s41380-019-0428-y. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:31138893. PMCID:PMC6881530.
Niendam TA, Ray KL, Iosif AM, Lesh TA, Ashby SR, Patel PK, Smucny J, Ferrer E, Solomon M, Ragland JD, Carter CS. Association of Age at Onset and Longitudinal Course of Prefrontal Function in Youth With Schizophrenia. JAMA Psychiatry. 2018 Dec 1;75(12):1252-1260. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.2538. PMID:30285056. PMCID:PMC6583034.
Smucny J, Lesh TA, Iosif AM, Niendam TA, Tully LM, Carter CS. Longitudinal stability of cognitive control in early psychosis: Nondegenerative deficits across diagnoses. J Abnorm Psychol. 2018 Nov;127(8):781-788. doi:10.1037/abn0000356. Epub 2018 May 21. PMID:29781657. PMCID:PMC6237622.
Savill M, Skymba HV, Ragland JD, Niendam T, Loewy RL, Lesh TA, Carter C, Goldman HH. Acceptability of Psychosis Screening and Factors Affecting Its Implementation: Interviews With Community Health Care Providers. Psychiatr Serv. 2018 Jun 1;69(6):689-695. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201700392. Epub 2018 Apr 2. PMID:29606073. PMCID:PMC5985672.
Nelson B, Amminger GP, Yuen HP, Wallis N, J Kerr M, Dixon L, Carter C, Loewy R, Niendam TA, Shumway M, Morris S, Blasioli J, McGorry PD. Staged Treatment in Early Psychosis: A sequential multiple assignment randomised trial of interventions for ultra high risk of psychosis patients. Early Interv Psychiatry. 2018 Jun;12(3):292-306. doi:10.1111/eip.12459. Epub 2017 Jul 18. PMID:28719151. PMCID:PMC6054879.