Tara Ann Niendam, Ph.D. for UC Davis Health

Tara Ann Niendam, Ph.D.

Vice Chair for Research in Psychiatry

Executive Director, UC Davis Early Psychosis Programs (EDAPT and SacEDAPT Clinics)

Director of Schizophrenia Research and Education Program

Director and Principal Investigator for the EPI-CAL Project

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).

Reviews

Specialties

Pediatric and Transition-age Youth Mental Health

Mental Illness

Locations and Contact

Imaging Research Center

Imaging Research Center
4701 X St.
Sacramento, CA 95817

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Psychiatry Academic Department

Psychiatry Department
2230 Stockton Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95817

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Additional Numbers

Phone

916-734-3090

Clinic Phone

916-734-7251

Physician Referrals

800-4-UCDAVIS (800-482-3284)

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. Tara Niendam is a licensed clinical psychologist and a Professor in the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry. As the Executive Director of the UC Davis Early Psychosis Programs (EDAPT and SacEDAPT Clinics), Dr. Niendam supervises clinic and training activities, and coordinates outreach and educational presentations within Sacramento and across California. She has developed 5 early psychosis programs in Northern California based on the coordinated specialty care model of early psychosis, sharing expertise on the course of early psychotic illness, evidenced based treatments for psychosis, and the use of standardized clinical assessments of early psychosis symptoms, functioning, and outcomes.

Research/Academic Interests

With funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, California Mental Health Service Oversight and Accountability Commission, California Department of Healthcare Services, and National Institutes of Mental Health, Dr. Niendam’s research uses mobile health technology to enhance early identification and treatment of youth and young adults with serious mental illness, with a focus on improving clinical and functional outcomes. The new EPI-CAL project, led by Dr. Niendam in partnership with UC San Francisco, UC San Diego, University of Calgary, The One Mind ASPIRe program, and multiple California counties, will bring client-level data to the clinician’s fingertips, and enable large scale data-driven approaches to improve outcomes for EP care. She also directs the EPI-CAL affiliated Training and Technical Assistance Center, which seeks to bring evidence based early psychosis care to all Californians.

Division

Clinical Psychologist
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Center/Program Affiliation

Imaging Research Center
Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care

Undergraduate School

B.A., Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston IL 2000

Other School

Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles CA 2006

Other School

M.A., Clinical Psychology, 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, 2013

Eunice K. Meyer Charitable Foundation Investigator - NARSAD Young Investigator Award, 2012

National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Program Award, 2011

International Congress on Schizophrenia Research Young Investigator Travel Award, 2011

UC Davis Academic Federation Research Travel Grant Award, 2010

To view a detailed list of  Dr. Niendam's publications, please click here.

Grattan RE, Tryon VL, Lara N, Gabrielian SE, Melnikow J, Niendam TA. Risk and Resilience Factors for Youth Homelessness in Western Countries: A Systematic Review. Psychiatr Serv. 2022 Apr 1;73(4):425-438. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.202000133. Epub 2021 Jul 29. PMID:34320827.

Anglin DM, Ereshefsky S, Klaunig MJ, Bridgwater MA, Niendam TA, Ellman LM, DeVylder J, Thayer G, Bolden K, Musket CW, Grattan RE, Lincoln SH, Schiffman J, Lipner E, Bachman P, Corcoran CM, Mota NB, van der Ven E. From Womb to Neighborhood: A Racial Analysis of Social Determinants of Psychosis in the United States. Am J Psychiatry. 2021 Jul;178(7):599-610. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20071091. Epub 2021 May 3. PMID:33934608.

Tryon VL, Garman HD, Loewy RL, Niendam TA. Links Between Human and Animal Models of Trauma and Psychosis: A Narrative Review. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2021 Feb;6(2):154-165. doi:10.1016/j.bpsc.2020.09.012. Epub 2020 Oct 1. PMID:33309566.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 2021 Mar;26(3):761-771. doi:10.1038/s41380-019-0428-y. Epub 2019 May 28. PMID:31138893.

Understanding Psychosis