Elijah Nichols

Elijah is a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program (major area of study in Clinical Health Psychology) at the University of Kansas, working in the Hamilton Health and Sleep Lab. He received his B.S. in Psychology and Biology from Kansas State University. His research focuses on the relationship between sleep, stress physiology, and mental health, particularly how cortisol and other stress-related biomarkers influence sleep-wake patterns. He is especially interested in sleep disturbances and disruptions at a biopsychological approach. His work also explores the role of the Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR), Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation, and sympathetic nervous system activity in sleep disorders and psychological conditions like PTSD, anxiety, and depression.