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Amir M. Arain
( out of 143 reviews )

Amir M. Arain, MD, MPH

Languages spoken: English, Urdu, Arabic

Clinical Locations

Primary Location

Clinical Neurosciences Center

175 North Medical Drive East
Salt Lake City , UT 84132

Dr. Amir M. Arain is a professor and an epileptologist that focuses on the treatment of refractory epilepsy. He graduated from Dow Medical College, Karachi, and did his Neurology residency and Epilepsy fellowship at Vanderbilt University. There, he served on the faculty of the Department of Neurology as an epileptologist from 2000 to 2018. He joined the University of Utah in July 2018 and currently serves as chief of the Epilepsy division.

Dr. Arain has been involved in different research projects in epilepsy. He has conducted several antiepileptic drug trials including levetiracetam, oxcarbazepine, pregabalin, lacosamide, retigabine, brivaracetam, carisbamate, eslicarbazepine, and cenobamate. He has published several peer-reviewed research articles and has presented data at various scientific meetings. He has trained more than 100 fellows in epilepsy over the years. His interests include seizure semiology, SUDEP, disparities of care in epilepsy, and geriatric epilepsy.

Board Certification

American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Neurology)
American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Sub: Clinical Neurophysiology)
American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Sub: Epilepsy)
American Board of Clinical Neurophysiology

Patient Rating

4.7 /5
( out of 143 reviews )

The patient rating score is an average of all responses on our patient experience survey. The rating averages scores for all questions about care from our providers.

The scale on which responses are measured is 1 to 5 with 5 being the best score.

Patient Comments

Patient comments are gathered from our patient experience survey and displayed in their entirety. For the convenience of our visitors, some patient comments have been translated from their original language into English while preserving their original meaning as accurately as possible. Patients are de-identified for confidentiality and patient privacy.

CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES CENTER

I was pleased by the thoughtful and attentive concern Doctor Arain approached my medical issue with. The initial visit was transparent and to the point leaving me feeling confident with the Doctor's plan for treatments and follow-up care.

CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES CENTER

Dr. Arain was very kind and knowledgeable. He has a calm demeanor that helped put us at ease and he asked several times if we had more questions. He was reassuring and made sure we left with the information we needed. It was super hard to get the appointment but he is clearly a specialist. I would recommend Dr. Arain to anyone.

CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES CENTER

He makes me feel very comfortable and relaxed. Wish I could clone him to my PCP

CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES CENTER

JUST WONDERFUL......

CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES CENTER

He is truly the most amazing doctor I have ever had, and he is very dedicated to his patience and his job. Im very glad I got to be his patient and he has never failed to make sure every thing I talked to him about is completely taken care of. I cant say enough with words how amazing of a neurologist he is.

CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES CENTER

He is great doctor and had a lot of experience in medical education and taking care of his patients

CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES CENTER

He's the best

CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES CENTER

Dr. Arain is a asset to your organization. His sincerity and knowledge is most impressive. I was very emotionally compromised when I arrived. All of my guestions were answered along with answers to questions I would not thought of were clearly explained.

CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES CENTER

Dr. Arain is awesome! He just isn't super talkative.

Dr. Amir M. Arain is a professor and an epileptologist that focuses on the treatment of refractory epilepsy. He graduated from Dow Medical College, Karachi, and did his Neurology residency and Epilepsy fellowship at Vanderbilt University. There, he served on the faculty of the Department of Neurology as an epileptologist from 2000 to 2018. He joined the University of Utah in July 2018 and currently serves as chief of the Epilepsy division.

Dr. Arain has been involved in different research projects in epilepsy. He has conducted several antiepileptic drug trials including levetiracetam, oxcarbazepine, pregabalin, lacosamide, retigabine, brivaracetam, carisbamate, eslicarbazepine, and cenobamate. He has published several peer-reviewed research articles and has presented data at various scientific meetings. He has trained more than 100 fellows in epilepsy over the years. His interests include seizure semiology, SUDEP, disparities of care in epilepsy, and geriatric epilepsy.

Board Certification and Academic Information

Academic Departments Neurology -Professor
Board Certification
American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Neurology)
American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Sub: Clinical Neurophysiology)
American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Sub: Epilepsy)
American Board of Clinical Neurophysiology

Education history

Professional Medical Medicine, Surgery - Dow Medical College of the University of Karachi M.B.B.S.
Internship Internal Medicine - McLaren Flint Intern
Residency Neurology - Vanderbilt University Medical Center Resident
Chief Resident Neurology - Vanderbilt University Medical Center Chief Resident
Fellowship Epilepsy/Neurophysiology - Vanderbilt University Medical Center Clinical Fellow
Graduate Training Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Clinical Research Design, etc - Vanderbilt University M.P.H.

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Arain AM, Umar A, Rawal P, Azar NJ, Obideen M, Singh P, Al-Kaylani M, Abou-Khalil (2019). Localization value of ictal turning prone. Seizure, 69, 57-60.
  2. Naoir Zaher, Kevin Haas, Hasan Sonmezturk, Amir Arain, Bassel Abou-Khali (2019). Rhythmic ictal nonclonic hand (RINCH) motions in general EMU patients with focal epilepsy. Epilepsy & behavior, Feb. 2020, 103 pt. A.
  3. Bornali Kundu, Tyler S Davis, Brian Philip, Elliot H Smith, Amir Arain, Angela Peters, Blake Newman, Christopher R Butson, John D Rolsto (2020). A systematic exploration of parameters affecting evoked intracranial potentials in patients with epilepsy. Brain stimulation, 13(5), 1232-1244.
  4. Anderson DN, Charlebois CM, Smith EH, Davis TS, Peters AY, Newman BJ, Arain AM, Wilcox KS, Butson CR, Rolston J (2023). Closed-loop stimulation in periods with less epileptiform activity drives improved epilepsy outcomes. Brain, 147(2), 521-531.
  5. Kundu B, Arain A, Davis T, Charlebois CM, Rolston J (2023). Using chronic recordings from a closed-loop neurostimulation system to capture seizures across multiple thalamic nuclei. Annals of clinical and translational neurology, 10(1), 136-143.
  6. Simon A, Nguyen D, Newman B, Arain (2023). Uric Acid Nephropathy Secondary to Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizures. The neurologist,
  7. Campbell JM, Kundu B, Lee JN, Miranda M, Arain A, Taussky P, Grandhi R, Rolston J (2023). Evaluating the concordance of functional MRI-based language lateralization and Wada testing in epilepsy patients: A single-center analysis. Interventional neuroradiology, 29(5), 599-604.
  8. Miranda M, Arias F, Arain A, Newman B, Rolston J, Richards S, Peters A, Pick L (2022). Neuropsychological evaluation in American Sign Language: A case study of a deaf patient with epilepsy. Epilepsy & behavior reports, 19, 100558.
  9. Charlebois CM, Anderson DN, Johnson KA, Philip BJ, Davis TS, Newman BJ, Peters AY, Arain AM, Dorval AD, Rolston JD, Butson C (2022). Patient-specific structural connectivity informs outcomes of responsive neurostimulation for temporal lobe epilepsy. Epilepsia, 63(8), 2037-2055.
  10. Brown MG, Sillau S, McDermott D, Ernst LD, Spencer DC, Englot DJ, González HFJ, Datta P, Karakis I, Becker D, Rolston JD, Arain A, Rao VR, Doherty M, Urban A, Drees (2022). Concurrent brain-responsive and vagus nerve stimulation for treatment of drug-resistant focal epilepsy. Epilepsy & behavior, 129, 108653.
  11. Jehi L, Morita-Sherman M, Love TE, Bartolomei F, Bingaman W, Braun K, Busch RM, Duncan J, Hader WJ, Luan G, Rolston JD, Schuele S, Tassi L, Vadera S, Sheikh S, Najm I, Arain A, Bingaman J, Diehl B, de Tisi J, Rados M, Van Eijsden P, Wahby S, Wang X, Wiebe (2021). Comparative Effectiveness of Stereotactic Electroencephalography Versus Subdural Grids in Epilepsy Surgery. Annals of neurology, 90(6), 927-939.
  12. Anderson DN, Charlebois CM, Smith EH, Arain AM, Davis TS, Rolston J (2021). Probabilistic comparison of gray and white matter coverage between depth and surface intracranial electrodes in epilepsy. Scientific reports, 11(1), 24155.
  13. Frankel MA, Lehmkuhle MJ, Spitz MC, Newman BJ, Richards SV, Arain A (2021). Wearable Reduced-Channel EEG System for Remote Seizure Monitoring. Frontiers in neurology, 12, 728484.
  14. Scoville JP, Joyce E, Hunsaker J, Reese J, Wilde H, Arain A, Bollo RL, Rolston J (2021). Stereotactic Electroencephalography Is Associated With Reduced Pain and Opioid Use When Compared with Subdural Grids: A Case Series. Operative neurosurgery (Hagerstown, Md.), 21(1), 6-13.
  15. Kundu B, Davis TS, Philip B, Smith EH, Arain A, Peters A, Newman B, Butson CR, Rolston J (2020). A systematic exploration of parameters affecting evoked intracranial potentials in patients with epilepsy. Brain stimulation, 13(5), 1232-1244.
  16. Zaher N, Haas K, Sonmezturk H, Arain A, Abou-Khalil (2020). Rhythmic ictal nonclonic hand (RINCH) motions in general EMU patients with focal epilepsy. Epilepsy & behavior, 103(Pt A), 106666.
  17. Arain AM, Umar A, Rawal P, Azar NJ, Obideen M, Singh P, Al-Kaylani M, Abou-Khalil (2019). Localization value of ictal turning prone. Seizure, 69, 57-60.
  18. Halford JJ, Westover MB, LaRoche SM, Macken MP, Kutluay E, Edwards JC, Bonilha L, Kalamangalam GP, Ding K, Hopp JL, Arain A, Dawson RA, Martz GU, Wolf BJ, Waters CG, Dean B (2018). Interictal Epileptiform Discharge Detection in EEG in Different Practice Settings. Journal of clinical neurophysiology, 35(5), 375-380.
  19. Baker MD, Abou-Khalil BW, Arain A, Tummala P, Azar NJ, Haas KF, Sonmezturk H (2018). Lacosamide efficacy and tolerability in clinical practice - Post marketing analysis from a single dedicated epilepsy center. Clinical neurology and neurosurgery, 171, 179-183.
  20. Sagi V, Kim I, Bhatt AB, Sonmezturk H, Abou-Khalil BW, Arain A (2017). Generalized paroxysmal fast activity in EEG: An unrecognized finding in genetic generalized epilepsy. Epilepsy & behavior, 76, 101-104.
  21. Yearley AG, Smith EH, Davis TS, Anderson D, Arain AM, Rolston J (2024). Interictal discharge traveling waves recorded from stereoelectroencephalography electrodes. Journal of neurosurgery, 141(4), 1115-1123.
  22. Charlebois CM, Anderson DN, Smith EH, Davis TS, Newman BJ, Peters AY, Arain AM, Dorval AD, Rolston JD, Butson C (2024). Circadian changes in aperiodic activity are correlated with seizure reduction in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy treated with responsive neurostimulation. Epilepsia, 65(5), 1360-1373.
  23. Arain AM, Mirro EA, Brown D, Peters A, Newman B, Richards S, Rolston J (2024). Long-Term Intracranial EEG Lateralization of Epileptogenicity in Patients With Confirmed or Suspected Bilateral Mesial Temporal Lobe Onsets During Epilepsy Surgical Evaluation. Journal of clinical neurophysiology, 41(6), 522-529.
  24. Campbell JM, Davis TS, Nesterovich Anderson D, Arain A, Davis ZW, Inman CS, Smith EH, Rolston J (2025). Macroscale traveling waves evoked by single-pulse stimulation of the human brain. The Journal of neuroscience, 45(21),
  25. Campbell JM, Yost S, Gautam D, Herich A, Botros D, Slaughter M, Chodakiewitz M, Arain A, Peters A, Richards S, Newman B, Johnson B, Rahimpour S, Shofty (2024). Delays in the diagnosis and surgical treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy: A cohort study. Epilepsia, 65(5), 1314-1321.
  26. Campbell JM, Cowan RL, Wahlstrom KL, Hollearn MK, Jensen D, Davis T, Rahimpour S, Shofty B, Arain A, Rolston JD, Hamann S, Wang S, Eisenman LN, Swift J, Xie T, Brunner P, Manns JR, Inman CS, Smith EH, Willie J (2025). Human single-neuron activity is modulated by intracranial theta burst stimulation of the basolateral amygdala. bioRxiv,
  27. Campbell JM, Davis TS, Anderson DN, Arain A, Davis Z, Inman CS, Smith EH, Rolston J (2024). Macroscale traveling waves evoked by single-pulse stimulation of the human brain. bioRxiv,

Review

  1. Arain A (2009). Pregabalin in the management of partial epilepsy. Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 5, 407-13.
  2. Arain AM, Abou-Khalil B (2009). Management of new-onset epilepsy in the elderly. Nature reviews. Neurology, 5(7), 363-71.
  3. Ali S, Jabeen S, Arain A, Wassef T, Ibrahim (2011). How to Use Your Clinical Judgment to Screen for and Diagnose Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures without Video Electroencephalogram. Innovations in clinical neuroscience, 8(1), 36-42.
  4. Ali S, Patel M, Jabeen S, Bailey RK, Patel T, Shahid M, Riley WJ, Arain (2011). Insight into delirium. Innovations in clinical neuroscience, 8(10), 25-34.