Professor Nicol received a B.S. from the University of California, Irvine in 1972 (Biological Sciences), a M.S. from San Diego State University in 1975 (Biological Sciences), and a Ph.D. in 1980 from Yale University (Physiology). He joined the faculty of Indiana University School of Medicine in 1988. He was appointed the Showalter Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology in 2006.
The research in Professor Nicol's laboratory focuses on the regulation of ion channel activity by intracellular signalling cascades that are activated by inflammatory mediators such as prostaglandins and neurotrophins.
Professor Nicol also is a primary investigator at the Stark Neurosciences Research Institute. He is a member of the Society for Neuroscience and the Biophysical Society. He served as a regular member of the NIH study section IFCN-4 and Somatosensory and Chemosensory Systems from 2000-2005.