David Nichols
Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Psychopharmacology
Papers
Trials
Key Impact
A leading medicinal chemist whose decades-long work on the chemistry, structure–activity relationships and receptor pharmacology of serotonergic psychedelics has shaped modern basic and translational psychedelic research.
Background & Research
David E. Nichols is a medicinal chemist and psychopharmacologist long associated with Purdue University, renowned for pioneering studies on the chemistry and pharmacology of classical and novel serotonergic psychedelics. His work spans synthesis of psychedelic compounds, detailed structure–activity relationship (SAR) investigations, and elucidation of interactions at serotonin (5-HT) receptor subtypes—particularly the 5-HT2A receptor—providing foundational chemical and pharmacological frameworks that underpin current basic and clinical research.
Nichols has authored influential reviews and empirical papers that synthesize chemical, receptor, and behavioural data, and he has been active in translating receptor-level insights into hypotheses about neural mechanisms and therapeutic potential. He has contributed to interdisciplinary efforts including receptor structural studies, neuroimaging correlates of LSD, and institutional leadership in organisations supporting psychedelic research. His contributions are widely cited across medicinal chemistry, neuropharmacology and the emerging clinical literature on psychedelics for psychiatric disorders.