Amir Ramezani, Ph.D.
Specialties
Parioperative Psychology
Health Psychology
Neuropsychology
Pain Psychology
Department
Title
- Psychologist
UC Davis Medical Center - Cypress Building
2221 Stockton Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95817
Driving Directions
Primary Phone:
800-2-UCDAVIS (800-282-3284)
Additional Phone Numbers
Physician Referrals: 800-4-UCDAVIS (800-482-3284)
Clinical Interests
Dr. Ramezani obtained a dual PhD in Clinical Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine at the University of North Texas. He also completed a fellowship in pain psychology at UCSF and a second fellowship in neuropsychology at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience.
Dr. Ramezani's clinical, education, and research interests include integrating cognitive-behavioral and neuropsychology interventions to improve chronic medical and cognitive conditions, advancing teaching methods for students and trainees, pre-surgical behavioral preparation, and cultural neurocognition.
Dr. Ramezani has published in the areas of neurocognition, brain imaging, depression, and chronic conditions. He also teaches residents, fellows, nursing students, and physician assistant students.
Research/Academic Interests
Dr. Amir Ramezani finds great joy in teaching trainees and professionals. He currently teaches primary care physicians, combined internal medicine and psychiatry residents, and medical students. He also enjoys conducting research, clinical and creative writing (e.g., abstract art / inkblot), and he has multiple publications and book chapters in the areas of integrative psychotherapy, advancing teaching methods, management of chronic medical conditions, and neurocognitive functioning.
Dr. Amir Ramezani is active in multiple professional community and educational leadership roles, including serving as the 2017 President of the Western Association for Neuroscience and Biofeedback (WABN), and Founder and Chair of the Behavioral Medicine and Neuropsychology Section of the Sacramento Valley Psychological Association (SVPA). He also helped develop the UCD University Writing Program's Write-Mind Collaborative, a multi-organization initiative between UCD, SVPA, and WABN, which helps students get mentorship and internships with medical and behavioral health professionals.
Division
Gastrointestinal Surgery
Foregut and Endometabolic Surgery
Education
Ph.D., Health Psychology & Behavioral Medicine, University of North Texas, Denton TX 2008
B.A., California State University - Fullerton, Fullerton CA 2002
Fellowships
Pain Psychology and Neuropsychology, UC San Francisco, San Francisco CA 2008-2009
Neuropsychology, UC Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA 2009-2011
Board Certifications
California Board of Psychology, 2011
EEG Biofeedback (BCN), 2007
General Biofeedback (BCB), 2015
Honors and Awards
Leadership Star Award, UC Davis Health, Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine Department, 2017
Outstanding Leadership, The UNT Eagles Nest and Student Activities, 2005
Presidential Leadership, The UNT International & Multicultural Center, 2005
Research Award, International Society for Neuronal Regulations, 2005
Raupe Award, UNT Toulouse Graduate School, 2003, 2004
Teaching Fellowship, UNT Psychology Department, 2003, 2004
Clinical Traineeship Award,UNT Psychology Department, 2003
Tolerance Award, National Campaign for TOLERANCE, 2004
Select Recent Publications
Wander, L., Prasad, R., Ramezani, A., Malcore, S., & Kern, R. Core Competencies for the Emerging Specialty of Pain Psychology. American Psychologist. 2018 (in press).
McCarron, R. M., Ramezani, A., Koebner, I., & Sheth, S. J. Integrated chronic pain and psychiatric management. In Feinstein, R., Connelly, J.V., Feinstein, M.S., (2017). Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care. Oxford University Press. 2017.
Delgado, C., Singh, N., Ramezani, A., & Reed, M. Pain medicine in the psychiatric patient population. In McCarron, R. M., Xiong, G. L., Keenan, C. R., Nasrahlla, H. A. Study Guide: Preventive medicine in psychiatry. American Psychiatric Association Publishing. 2017.
Ramezani, A. Teaching pain psychology and neuropsychology: What do medical trainees want to learn? Journal of Psychology and Clinical Psychiatry. 2016;6(8), 1-4.
Ramezani, A., Rockers, D. M., Wanlass, R. L., McCarron, R. M. Teaching behavioral medicine professionals and trainees an elaborated version of the Y-Model: Implications for the integration of cognitive -behavioral therapy (CBT), psychodynamic therapy, and motivational interviewing. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration. 2016;26(4), 407-424.
Stayner, S. R., Ramezani, A., Prasad, R., & Mahajan, G. Chronic Pain Management for Patients with Psychiatric Illness. Current Psychiatry. 2016;15 (2), 27-33.
Ramezani, A., McCarron, R. M., Lashai, B., & Lenaerts, M. E. P. Cognitive, neurological, and psychological aspects of head pain: Applying the biopsychosocial model to care. Current Psychiatry. 2015; 14(9):12-26.
Duff, K. & Ramezani, A. Regression-based normative formulae for the RBANS for older adults. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology. 2015; 30(5):1-5.
Thames, A. D., Foley, J. M., Wright, M. J., Panos, S. E., Ettenhofer, M., Ramezani, A., Streiff, V., El-Saden, S., Goodwin, S., Bookheimer, S. Y., Hinkin, C. H. Basal ganglia structures differentially contribute to verbal fluency: evidence from Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-infected adults. Neuropsychologia, 2012;50 (3), 390-395.
Thames, A. Becker, B. W., Marcotte, T., Hines, L., Foley, J., Ramezani, A., Singer, E., Castellon, S. A., Heaton, R., and Hinkin, C. H. Depression, cognition, and self-appraisal of functional abilities in HIV: Examination of subjective appraisal versus objective performance. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 2010;25, 224-243.