2024-2025 Public Psychiatry Fellows
Dr. Ambarin Faizi
Ambarin Faizi, DO Dr. Ambarin Faizi is from Southern California and serves as an Assistant Medical Director, IST Solutions Psychiatrist, at the California Department of State Hospitals. She is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry with added qualification in Forensic Psychiatry. She completed her forensic psychiatry fellowship at the University of California, Davis following general psychiatry residency at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. She received her Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed her undergraduate studies in Biological Sciences at the University of California, Riverside. Dr. Faizi is experienced in providing psychiatric care and consultation in various levels of care settings. From the onset of her professional journey, she has been interested in applicable systemic approaches to mental health care and is dedicated to improving the lives of individuals who experience severe and persistent mental illness. She enjoys presenting at national and regional conferences, teaching residents and fellows, and participating in professional organizations like the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law and the American Psychiatric Association.
Dr. Jacob Johnson
Jacob grew up in Portland, OR and graduated from Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). He is joining the fellowship during his fourth year of residency at San Mateo County BHRS. He is based at South County Clinic in Redwood City, where he sees patients living with serious mental illness at an epicenter of economic injustice. He has a background in the humanities and an interest in psychodynamic psychotherapy, in addition to a clinical focus on serious mental illness and addiction. He has engaged in research and quality improvement projects, developing a benzodiazepine-sparing alcohol withdrawal protocol for the county's psychiatric emergency unit at San Mateo Medical Center and working to introduce extended-release injectable buprenorphine into county mental health clinics. During fellowship, he will continue seeing continuity patients while rotating at HealthRIGHT 360 in San Francisco and in the county gender clinic. He will take on a leadership role for a resident-run service providing buprenorphine in San Mateo County jails. He also hopes to apply for a grant to co-locate mental health, addiction, and STI/hepatitis services at various county locations. Outside of work, he enjoys gardening, the desert, and eating out.
Dr. Nakisa Kiai
Dr. Nakisa Kiai grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, and completed her BSc at the University of British Columbia. Her journey took her from the rainy Pacific Northwest to the sunny tropics, where she attended medical school at Ross University. Nakisa completed her psychiatry residency at UCLA-Kern in Bakersfield at a safety-net hospital within the county’s behavioral health system. She is currently completing her child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at UCSF, where she also serves as a Chief Fellow. Nakisa’s areas of clinical interests include working with adolescents and their families through a trauma-focused lens. Outside of work, Nakisa enjoys practicing yoga and caring for her several dozen houseplants, two cats, and a dog. Dr.
Dr. Andrew Sudler
Andrew Sudler (he/him) is originally from New Jersey and received his BA in Psychology from Harvard University. He also completed an MPH in Health and Social Behavior at UC Berkeley and received his MD from Columbia University. After medical school, Andrew joined the UCSF Adult Psychiatry Residency Training Program where he currently serves as the psychiatry chief resident for the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. His interests are broadly at the intersection of mental health, sexual health, critical care, and the carceral system. Throughout his training, Andrew has helped conduct research investigating HIV/AIDS health inequities in marginalized communities. He also took a year off in medical school to work as a mitigation specialist at an indigent defense law firm in NYC. In this work, Andrew helped create trauma-informed social histories for clients involved in capital and non-capital litigation. He hopes to use his skills as a public psychiatrist to improve medical care for people living with serious mental illness and provide equitable mental health care to system-impacted populations. Andrew is thrilled to join the public psychiatry fellowship where he will be working in the SF County Jail and in the SFDPH Office of Coordinated Care. He will also be a forensic psychiatry fellow at UCSF from 2025-2026. Outside of medicine, Andrew loves to travel, dance, and immerse himself in the world of fashion/interior design.