Nicholas A. Livingston, PhD

Assistant Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Livingston completed his PhD at the University of Montana and his predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at VA Boston Healthcare System, focused on evidence-based substance use and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment. Dr. Livingston is a Principal Investigator in the National Center for PTSD, Behavioral Science Division, and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine. His clinical appointment is in the Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program, VA Boston Medical Center, Jamaica Plain.

Primary research interests include substance use and disorder, treatment access and outcomes, and predicting and preventing adverse events (e.g., overdose death, suicide); the longitudinal course of trauma, PTSD, and interrelated psychiatric sequelae; and health disparities. Current funding supports examinations of the impacts of federal policy changes governing medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) on access to care, treatment retention, and patient outcomes (PCORI LTF-2024C2-39670 & COVID-2020C2-11081; PI: Livingston), the long-term impacts of combat and other traumas among OEF/OIF/OND veterans (W81XWH-22-S-TBIPH2; PIs: Marx & Bovin), and various studies focused on VA health services and patient outcomes. Current priorities include improving access to MOUD and treatment retention, substance use and relapse tracking using electronic medical record data (via Natural Language Processing and Large Language Models), modeling risk for acute and substance-attributable death among veterans with SUD, and identifying and addressing health disparities.

Dr. Livingston is a primary or co-mentor on numerous early career development awards (e.g., K, VA CDA-2) and a mentor for the Boston University NIMH T32, VA Medical Informatics Fellowship, VA Interprofessional Advanced Fellowship in Addiction Treatment, and other psychology training programs at VA Boston Healthcare System.

Publications

  • Published 12/15/2025

    Nomamiukor FO, Collazo EN, Harper KL, Neilson EC, Ellis AE, Simiola VL, Cook JM, Livingston NA. How masculinity and treatment impact posttraumatic stress disorder recovery in sexual minority men with sexual trauma: Findings from a randomized clinical trial. Psychol Sex Orientat Gend Divers. 2025 Dec 15. PMID: 41641008.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 11/26/2025

    Cascalheira CJ, DeFiori K, Kalkbrenner MT, Beaver K, Chang CJ, Upham M, Livingston NA, Shipherd JC, Kauth MR, Kaysen D, Simpson TL. Factor Structure and Factorial Invariance of Scores on the PCL-5, PHQ-8, and GAD-7 Across Veterans by Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Assessment. 2025 Nov 26; 10731911251389202. PMID: 41292452.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 11/18/2025

    Harper KL, McConnell A, DeFiori K, Griffith AM, Boyer TL, Cascalheira CJ, Blosnich JR, Ting M, Hilgeman MM, Livingston NA, Hamilton AB, Simpson T. LGBQ+?Veteran and Service Member Health and Health Care: A Scoping Review of Research from 1994 to 2023. J Gen Intern Med. 2025 Nov 18. PMID: 41254421.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 11/4/2025

    Fonda JR, Loeffel LB, Livingston NA, Knoff AA, Bravman V, Gradus JL, Adams RS. Sex-Specific Associations Between Deployment-Related Traumatic Brain Injury and Nonfatal Drug Overdose Among a National Cohort of Post-9/11 Veterans. J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2025 Nov-Dec 01; 40(6):E491-E500. PMID: 40845918.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 10/16/2025

    Henke RM, Head MA, Smith LeBeau L, Benevent R, Davenport MJ, Camacho-Cook J, White MC, Mulvaney-Day N, Gibson TB, Sarpong A, Roth C, Banducci AN, Chen DCR, Stein MD, Meng F, Hyde J, Livingston NA. Behavioral health telehealth utilization during the pandemic among adults with opioid use disorder and behavioral health utilization in the year prior to COVID-19: Differences by payor source, treatment type, and patient demographics. Psychol Serv. 2026 Feb; 23(1):183-195. PMID: 41100287.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 79 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Psychologist, National Center for PTSD
    VA Boston Healthcare System

Websites

Education

  • University of Montana, PhD
  • University of Montana, MA
  • University of Utah, BS

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