David Nichols earned his B.S. from the University of Cincinnati in 1969 and his Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from the University of Iowa in 1973. He is a Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Purdue University, as well as a co-founder of the Heffter Institute, where he serves as Director of Preclinical Research.

Dr. Nichols has published more than 200 research articles on various aspects of the medicinal chemistry and neuropharmacology of drugs that act in the brain. The general theme of his research is to understand how changes in brain neurochemistry affect behavior, through the use of molecular probes. His laboratory has published numerous studies elucidating details both of the mechanism of action of MDMA and of the biochemical events related to the neurotoxic effects seen in animals following administration. Dr. Nichols coined the name 'entactogen' to describe the unique psychopharmacological effects of MDMA and related compounds.