Christopher Nicholas, PhD

• University of Tennessee – PhD, Clinical Psychology and Neuroscience

Bio

Christopher Nicholas, PhD (he/him/his) is DFMCH faculty whose research focuses on the clinical efficacy and therapeutic mechanisms of psychedelic (psilocybin, MDMA, 5-MeO-DMT) and other psychoactive compounds (ketamine) for addiction, PTSD, chronic pain, and depression. He is currently investigating psilocybin-assisted therapy for methamphetamine and opioid use disorders, ketamine-assisted therapy for adolescent PTSD, and the therapeutic role of memory salience and neuroplasticity post-psilocybin.

He earned his PhD in clinical psychology and neuroscience at the University of Tennessee and completed his post-doctoral fellowship in aging and multi-modal neuroimaging at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and William S. Middelton Memorial Veterans Hospital.

Clinical Interests

Nicholas is UW Addiction Fellowship Program faculty and provides clinical services for individuals living with chronic pain and HIV and supervision on psychedelic facilitation, implementation, and harm reduction.

Research Interests

Nicholas’s research interests include the clinical efficacy and therapeutic mechanisms of psychedelic and other psychoactive compounds for addiction, trauma, chronic pain, and depression. He also integrates fMRI as a biomarker in his clinical trials and is interested in the application of predictive processing as a transdiagnostic mechanistic framework.

Publications and Presentations

• Nicholas, C.R., Banks, M.I., Lennertz, R.C. et al.Co-administration of midazolam and psilocybin: differential effects on subjective quality versus memory of the psychedelic experience. Transl Psychiatry 14, 372 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-024-03059-8
• Nicholas, C.R., Horton, D.M., Malicki, J., Baltes, A., Hutson, P.R., Brown, R.T. (2023). Psilocybin for opioid use disorder in two adults stabilized on buprenorphine: A technical report on study modifications and preliminary findings. Psychedelic Medicine, 1 (4), 253-261.
• Nicholas CR, Wang JB, Coker A, Mitchell JM, Klaire SS, Yazar-Klosinski B, Emerson A, Brown RT, Doblin R. (2022). The effects of MDMA-assisted therapy on alcohol and substance use in a phase 3 trial for treatment of severe PTSD. Drug Alcohol Depend. Apr 1; 233:109356.
• Brett J, Knock E, Korthuis PT, Liknaitzky P, Murnane KS, Nicholas CR, Patterson JC II and Stauffer CS (2023). Exploring psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of methamphetamine use disorder. Psychiatry 14:1123424.
• Nicholas, C.R., Henriquez, K.M., Gassman, M.C., Cooper, K.M., Mueller, D., Hetzel, S., Brown, R. T. Cozzi, N.V., Thomas, C., Hutson, P. (2018). High Dose Psilocybin is associated with Positive Subjective Effects in Healthy Volunteers. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 32(7), 770-778.
• O’Donnell KC, Okano L, Alpert M, Nicholas CR, Thomas C, Poulter B, Mithoefer A, Mithoefer M, Ot’alora G M. The conceptual framework for the therapeutic approach used in phase 3 trials of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. Front Psychol. 2024 Nov 4;15:1427531. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1427531. PMID: 39559692; PMCID: PMC11571099.