Nicholas Allan, PhD
Associate Professor
Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
Academic contact
Academic information
- Department: Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
Research interests
- Tansdiagnostic Risk Factors
- Loneliness
- Intolerance of Uncertainty
- Multimodal
- Randomized Controlled Trials (RTC)
About
Biography
I am Nicholas Allan, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. I specialize in developing and testing brief, scalable psychological interventions for individuals experiencing complex behavioral health risks. My research focuses on identifying and targeting modifiable cognitive and emotional mechanisms such as anxiety sensitivity, intolerance of uncertainty, loneliness and emotion dysregulation to reduce risk and improve functioning across high-burden populations.
My research program is guided by a central question: How can we design practical, targeted interventions that work in real-world settings for people facing overlapping challenges such as suicide risk, substance use, caregiving strain, cognitive decline and firearm-related harm? To answer this, I lead and collaborate on federally and foundation-funded studies that examine intervention strategies across multiple public health domains, including suicide prevention, addiction, aging and dementia care and firearm safety.
My current work includes studies focused on firearm safety and uncertainty, suicide risk following psychiatric hospitalization and also on interventions for individuals with opioid use disorder and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. I also lead efforts to develop and test cognitive behavioral therapy approaches for loneliness, and brief interventions like IMPROVE that target anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty in high-risk populations.
Across my research, I use multimodal methods including clinical trials, intensive longitudinal designs, wearable technologies and passive sensing in order to better understand how emotional and behavioral processes unfold in daily life. My findings consistently demonstrate that brief, mechanism-focused interventions can be both feasible and impactful, even for individuals with complex and overlapping risk factors.
I am particularly committed to improving the scalability and accessibility of evidence-based interventions by integrating them into existing care systems such as telehealth, primary care, addiction treatment and community-based programs. I also place strong emphasis on mentorship, working closely with trainees and early-career researchers to advance the next generation of clinical psychological science.
Credentials
Education
- Predoctoral Clinical Psychology Internship - Adult Psychopathology
- Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States
- PhD - Clinical Psychology
- Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, United States
- MS - Clinical Psychology
- Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, United States
- BA - Psychology / Philosophy
- University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, United States
Research
Research interests
- Tansdiagnostic Risk Factors
- Loneliness
- Intolerance of Uncertainty
- Multimodal
- Randomized Controlled Trials (RTC)