“This opportunity is special to me because I attended my first SNMA conference as a freshman in college and, a decade later, I now have the honor of coordinating it during my last year of medical school," said Nichols.

Before attending Quinnipiac's Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, Nichols earned a bachelor’s degree in cognitive science from the University of Virginia and a master’s in clinical and translational research from Georgetown University.

While at Georgetown, she worked full-time for the Hepatitis C Program at Medstar Washington Hospital Center where she conducted and published research regarding Hepatitis C treatment and testing disparities. As a result, Nichols helped create and implement a clinical program at MedStar to ensure best practice testing guidelines were followed.

In addition, Nichols participated in Call for Action at Capitol Hill regarding Hepatitis C funding disparities and participated in free Hepatitis C testing sites across the District. She also worked with the Med-IQ program to educate primary care providers on their testing preferences and biases around Hepatitis C treatment and testing.

Nichols also volunteered to be a clinical research coordinator for a KULEA-NET study that focused on understanding breast-feeding misconceptions for African American first-time mothers and addressing them.

After MedStar, Nichols was recruited by Booz Allen Hamilton for her expertise in data analysis. Her work at the Pentagon centered on educating United States Air Force civilians and airmen on the vision and strategy of data management and safety.

At Quinnipiac, Nichols worked UConn’s Center for Quantitative Medicine to create a protocol regarding the most common COVID-19 symptoms. The purpose of this project was to aid primary care providers in COVID-19 point-of-care testing.

Additionally, Nichols serves as an advocate and mentor for minority students interested in careers in science, technology, engineering and math, and has created programs at Quinnipiac to assist struggling students with the transition to medical school.

Nichols also has created several programs to increase diversity in research in conjunction with the Student National Medical Association, where she served as the past associate region director for Region VII and is the incoming national convention planning co-chair. She was recently conducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society for her exemplary service, integrity, clinical excellence and compassion.