Rate My Professor Nicole Beaulieu Perez

Nicole Beaulieu Perez, PhD, RN, PMHNP-BC, is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing. She earned a PhD in Nursing Research and Theory Development from New York University, an MSN in Psychiatric Mental Health Advanced Practice Nursing from the University of Florida, and a BSN in Professional Nursing from the University of Florida. Before joining the NYU faculty, she completed postdoctoral training at the NYU Meyers Center for Precision Health in Diverse Populations and a TL1-funded predoctoral fellowship through NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Perez has over a decade of clinical experience as a psychiatric nurse and nurse practitioner in inpatient, outpatient, residential, and telehealth settings.

Her research focuses on advancing precision mental health care by examining the social and biological roots of depression in women with chronic conditions, particularly those living with HIV. She integrates expertise in clinical psychiatry, omics approaches such as epigenetics and the gut microbiome, and advanced statistical methods to identify distinct depression phenotypes and improve early detection and personalized treatments. Perez is the principal investigator of the ReDiMMH Study, a K08 award funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, investigating epigenetic aging, gut microbiome, and neurobiology underlying connections between poverty, depression, and metabolic health among women with or at risk for HIV. She previously received an NYU P20 Center pilot award funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research to study depressive symptom phenotypes and associated biomarkers in women with and without HIV who have type 2 diabetes. Perez has published on topics including depressive symptom trajectories, inflammation, epigenetic aging, and mental health disparities. She is a member of the American Academy of Nursing, the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, and other professional organizations. Her honors include the Distinguished PhD Student Award from NYU Meyers in 2021 and multiple scholarships from NYU and other institutions.